The 2019 Rally Italia Sardegna (also known as Rally Italia Sardegna 2019) was a

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

event for

rally cars Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

that was held over four days between 13 and 16 June 2019. It marked the sixteenth running of

Rally Italia Sardegna The Rally Italia Sardegna (until 2010 Rally d'Italia Sardegna) is a rally competition in Sardinia, Italy, which has been a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). Characteristics ...

and was the eighth round of the

2019 World Rally Championship The 2019 FIA World Rally Championship was the forty-seventh season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. T ...

World Rally Championship-2 The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...

and the newly-created WRC-2 Pro class. It was also the third round of the

Junior World Rally Championship The FIA Junior WRC, also known as JWRC and previously known as Junior World Rally Championship, is an international rallying competition restricted to drivers under 29 years old. The championship currently consists of five select rallies of t ...

. The 2019 event was based in

Alghero Alghero (; ca, label=Alguerese, L'Alguer ; sc, S'Alighèra ; sdc, L'Aliera ) is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northwestern Sardinia, next to the Mediterranean Sea. The city's name comes from ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label= Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, af ...

, and was contested over nineteen special stages with a total a competitive distance of .

Thierry Neuville Thierry Jean Neuville (born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship five times (2013, 2016–20 ...

and

Nicolas Gilsoul Nicolas Gilsoul (born 5 February 1982) is a Belgian rally co-driver. He is the former co-driver for Thierry Neuville.

were the defending rally winners. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners.

Jan Kopecký Jan Kopecký (born January 28, 1982) is a professional rally driver from Czech Republic who drives for Škoda Motorsport. He is the 2013 ERC champion, 2018 WRC-2 champion as well as a multiple champion of the Czech Rally Championship Career ...

and

Pavel Dresler Pavel ( Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pave ...

were the defending winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they did not defend their titles as they participated in the newly-created WRC-2 Pro class.

Dani Sordo Daniel "Dani" Sordo Castillo (born 2 May 1983) is a Spanish rally driver. He competes in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. He achieved his first WRC victory at the 2013 Rallye Deutschland. Career Sordo began in motocross when ...

and

Carlos del Barrio Carlos del Barrio (born 15 August 1968) is a Spanish rally co-driver. He is currently teamed with Dani Sordo and is competing for Hyundai in the World Rally Championship. Rally career Carlos del Barrio began his rally career in 1991, co-driving ...

won their second career victory. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, successfully defended their titles. The

Škoda Motorsport Škoda Motorsport is the division of Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto responsible for motorsport activities. The team had competed as a manufacturer in the World Rally Championship between 1999 and 2005 and Intercontinental Rally Challenge (b ...

crew of

Kalle Rovanperä Kalle Rovanperä (; born 1 October 2000 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish professional rally driver, who competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. As ...

and

Jonne Halttunen Jonne Halttunen (born 13 December 1985) is a Finnish rally co-driver. Currently, he is the co-driver of Kalle Rovanperä, driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Previously, they represented Škoda Motorsport to participate in the World Rally ...

took hat-trick in the WRC-2 Pro category, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category, while the French crew of

Pierre-Louis Loubet Pierre-Louis Loubet (born 18 February 1997) is a French rally driver. He is the 2019 World Rally Championship 2 Champion. He is the son of the 1989 European Rally Champion Yves Loubet. Career Early career Loubet started karting at 7 year ...

and

Vincent Landais Vincent Landais (born 17 October 1991) is a French rally co-driver. He is the co-driver of the French rally driver Sébastien Ogier, racing for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in the World Rally Championship. Rally career Landais and Loubet started in 2 ...

won the wider WRC-2 class. The third round of the J-WRC championship was taken by the

Rally Team Spain Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

crew of

Jan Solans Jan Solans Baldó (born 25 December 1997) is a Spanish rally driver. He won the 2019 Junior World Rally Championship, Spanish champion of Group N in 2016, champion of two-wheel drive and Group R2 in the Spanish Rally Championship Gravel in 201 ...

and

Mauro Barreiro Mauro may refer to: Given name * Mauro (footballer, born 1932), Brazilian footballer * Mauro Silva (footballer, born 1978), Brazilian footballer * Mauro (footballer, born 1984), Portuguese footballer * Bruno Mauro (born 1973), Angolan footballer * ...

Background

Championship standings prior to the event

Defending world champions

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champi ...

and

Julien Ingrassia Julien Ingrassia (born 26 November 1979) is a retired French rally co-driver. Working with Sébastien Ogier, he became World Rally Champion in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 with Volkswagen Motorsport, 2017 and 2018 with M-Sport World Rally Team ...

led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships with a two-point ahead of

Ott Tänak Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT. Tänak achieved his maiden drivers' world title in t ...

and

Martin Järveoja Martin Järveoja (; born 18 August 1987) is an Estonian rally co-driver. He is currently teamed with Ott Tänak and is competing for Hyundai in the World Rally Championship. Rally career He is the son of Estonian politician Toomas Järveoja, ...

and

Nicolas Gilsoul Nicolas Gilsoul (born 5 February 1982) is a Belgian rally co-driver. He is the former co-driver for Thierry Neuville.

were third, a further ten points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held a twenty-point lead over

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT is a World Rally Championship (WRC) team based in Finland that serves as Toyota's official factory team. Its team principal is former WRC driver Jari-Matti Latvala. The team made its début during the 2017 season, where ...

. In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings,

and

held a three-point lead ahead of

Mads Østberg Mads Østberg (born 11 October 1987) is a Norwegian rally driver. His co-driver is Torstein Eriksen. Career Østberg competed in his first rally in 2004. His first World Rally Championship event was the 2006 Swedish Rally, in which he finishe ...

and

Torstein Eriksen Torstein Eriksen (born 29 April 1990) is a rallying co-driver from Norway. He is currently teamed with Andreas Mikkelsen and is competing for Toksport WRT in the World Rally Championship-2. Rally career Torstein Eriksen began his rally career ...

in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively.

Łukasz Pieniążek Łukasz Pieniążek (born 19 September 1990) is a Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark P ...

and

Elliott Edmondson Elliott Edmondson (born 29 August 1994) is a British rally co-driver. Currently, he is the co-driver of Oliver Solberg for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest ...

were third, nine and ten points further back respectively. In the manufacturers' championship,

M-Sport Ford WRT The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (formerly M-Sport World Rally Team, Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team and Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team) is the privately run World Rally Championship team of M-Sport, the firm run by Malcolm Wilson that was previ ...

led

by thirty-one points, with

Citroën Total Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...

thirty-three points further behind in third. In the World Rally Championship-2 standings,

Benito Guerra Benito Iván Guerra Latapí (born 25 March 1985) is a Mexican rally driver competing for Citroën Racing, a privateer team in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2013, with his co-driver Borja Rozada. In 2012 he won the Production World ...

and

Jaime Zapata Jaime Jorge Zapata (May 7, 1978 – February 15, 2011) was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent who was ambushed and murdered by the Mexican criminal group Los Zetas in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. ...

led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by twenty-two points respectively.

Takamoto Katsuta Takamoto Katsuta (勝田貴元, ''Katsuta Takamoto'', born 17 March 1993) is a Japanese rally driver. He currently rallies for the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG in the World Rally Championship. He rose to prominence after taking a surprise victo ...

and

Daniel Barritt Daniel Barritt (born 23 August 1980) is a British World Rally Championship co-driver from England. Background Barritt was born in Burnley, UK. His family has been involved in rallying for three generations. His grandfather, for example, wa ...

were second, following by

Ole Christian Veiby Ole Christian Veiby is a professional rally driver from Norway driving for Hyundai Motorsport in the WRC-2 category of the World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition ...

and Jonas Andersson in third. In the Junior-World Rally Championship standings,

Tom Kristensson Tom Krister Kristensson (born 30 April 1991) is a Swedish rally driver, who drives in the Junior World Rally Championship. He is originally from Lund, but now lives in Hörby. In 2016 and 2017, Kristensson competed in the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup ...

and

Henrik Appelskog Henrik is a male given name of Germanic origin, primarily used in Scandinavia, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In Poland, the name is spelt Henryk but pronounced similarly. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Heiki (Estonian), Heik ...

led

and

by thirteen points in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively, with Dennis Rådström and Johan Johansson two points further behind in third in their own standings. In the Nations' standings, Sweden were first, thirteen points clear of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, with

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

two points further behind in third.

Entry list

The following crews entered into the rally. The event opened to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, WRC-2 Pro, Junior World Rally Championship, Italian national championship and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of ninety-four entries were received, with twelve crews entered with World Rally Cars and fifteen entered the World Rally Championship-2. Five crews were nominated to score points in the Pro class. A further eleven entries were received for the Junior World Rally Championship.

Route

The Ittiri Arena stage will be removed from the itinerary as well as some slight length-adjustments to selected stages.

Itinerary

All dates and times are

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in M ...

(

UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Cairo, Pretoria, Cape ...

Report

World Rally Cars

The first leg saw defending world champion

, who was the road-cleaner in

, caught out after hitting a huge rock in the morning loop. Ogier's

Citroën C3 The Citroën C3 is a supermini car ( B-segment) produced by Citroën since April 2002. It replaced the Citroën Saxo in the model line up, and is currently in its third generation. The third generation model made its appearance in June 2016, a ...

sustained serious suspension damage, forcing him and co-driver

to retire from the stage.

Teemu Suninen Teemu Suninen (born February 1, 1994) is a Finnish rally driver. Suninen was driving for Malcolm Wilson's M-Sport WRT in WRC between 2017 and 2021. His manager is Timo Jouhki. Rally career Suninen won the WRC-3 class in the 2014 Rally Finlan ...

took an early lead until a spin handed the lead to

Jari-Matti Latvala Jari-Matti Latvala (born 3 April 1985) is a Finnish rally driver who has competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC). His co-driver for most of his career was Miikka Anttila, who co-drove for Latvala between the 2003 Rallye Deutschland and 20 ...

, who rolled his Yaris in the afternoon loop. Things went from bad to worse as the Finn went off the road in the final stage of the leg.

also hit trouble as his i20 slid nose-first into a ditch, with the

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai As ...

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

being pierced in the ordeal. Eventually,

became the overnight leader. On day two, with a much better road position,

took over the rally — he dominated the day and won all six stages, turning a ten-second deficit to a twenty-five-second lead. However, his teammate

Kris Meeke Kris Meeke (born 2 July 1979) is a Northern Irish professional rally driver, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). He was the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion. His co-driver is Seb Marshall, also B ...

had to change a punctured tyre in the final test, which dropped him down from fifth to eighth. Things went against Tänak's favour in the

power stage The Power Stage (abbreviated as PS) is a special stage that usually runs as the final stage of a rally in the World Rally Championship (WRC). Additional championship points are available to the fastest five crews through the stage regardless of ...

, however, when a late

power steering A power steering is a mechanical device equipped on a motor vehicle that helps drivers steer the vehicle by reducing steering effort needed to turn the steering wheel, making it easier for the vehicle to turn or maneuver at lower speeds. Hydraul ...

failure deprived the Estonian of a third consecutive rally win, handing the victory to Sordo; his first rally win since the

2013 Rallye Deutschland The 31st Rallye Deutschland, ADAC Rallye Deutschland was the ninth round of the 2013 World Rally Championship, held from 22 to 25 August, 2013. Dani Sordo emerged victorious in his first ever World Rally Championship, WRC victory. Results Ev ...

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

World Rally Championship-2 Pro

was very likely to lead the category, but he lost almost eleven minutes adrift after hitting a stone in the opening stage, which meant

became the leader.

Gus Greensmith Fergus "Gus" Greensmith (born 26 December 1996) is a British rally driver. Rally career Greensmith's family owns fuel and lubricants distributor Crown Oil. A former youth goalkeeper for Manchester City F.C. and karter before moving into the ...

retired from the day due to plunging down a bank. Although he restarted on Saturday, a

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspen ...

failure forced him to stop again. Eventually, Rovanperä won the category as well as played a hat-trick.

Classification

Special stages

Results in bold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.

Championship standings

World Rally Championship-2

enjoyed a troublefree day in the lead. The major retirements of the leg included

Fabio Andolfi Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...

, who ripped a front wheel from his Fabia, and

due to multiple issues. On day two,

Nikolay Gryazin Nikolay Stanislavovich Gryazin (born 7 October 1997) is a Russian rally driver currently competing under a neutral flag representing the Russian Automobile Federation. He is the son of former rally driver Stanislav Gryazin and the younger broth ...

retired from second when he hit a rock and ripped off his right-front wheel. Back to the front,

surpassed Loubet in the final test of the leg. However, his car was on fire on the final day and forced to retire from the rally, which handled the victory back to the former category leader Loubet.

Classification

Special stages

Results in bold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.

Championship standings

Junior World Rally Championship

Dennis Rådström dominated the first day, while

Sean Johnston Sean Johnston is a Canadian writer,"Sterling new voice in prairie fiction". ''Winnipeg Free Press'', November 5, 2006. who won the ReLit Award for short fiction in 2003 for his short story collection ''A Day Does Not Go By''. He has also publishe ...

retired from the leg due to clipping a bank and plunging off the road. Rådström maintained the lead on leg two, but his lead was slashed to only 1.2 seconds. However, he lost the lead to

, who eventually won the J-WRC victory.

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

Notes

References

External links

* * 2019

i
''e-wrc website''
* Th
official website
of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. There are separate championships ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rally Italia, 2019

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

2019 in Italian motorsport June 2019 sports events in Italy

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...