The 2019 Rally Finland (also known as Neste Rally Finland 2019) was a motor racing event for rally cars held over four days between 1 and 4 August 2019. It marked the sixty-ninth running of Rally Finland and was the ninth 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 fourth round of the Junior World Rally Championship. The 2019 event was based in Jyväskylä in Keski-Suomi, and was contested over twenty-three special stages with a total a competitive distance of . Ott Tänak 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, an ...

were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners. The local crew of

Eerik Pietarinen Eerik is a masculine given name most commonly found in Estonia and Finland. It is a cognate of the English language name Eric. Men and boys named Eerik celebrate name day in Finland and Estonia on 18 May. Eerik may refer to: *Eerik Aps (born 1 ...

and

Juhana Raitanen Juhana is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Korczew, within Siedlce County, Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-c ...

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

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 (be ...

. The Estonian crew of

Ken Torn Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

and

Kuldar Sikk Kuldar Sikk (born 20 June 1979) is an Estonian rally co-driver. From 2022 he is the co-driver of Benediktas Vanagas from Lithuania. Dakar results Rally career Kuldar Sikk began his co-driver in 1998, co-driving for several drivers. In the 2 ...

were the reigning winners of the Junior World Rally Championship, but they did not compete the rally. Tänak and Järveoja successfully defended their titles, adding their winning number to double figures. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, won the rally three years in a row. Local youngster Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen took their fourth consecutive victory in the WRC-2 Pro category, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category, while the Russian crew of

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 ...

and Yaroslav Fedorov won the wider WRC-2 class as well as snatching their first WRC point. Tom Kristensson 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), Heikk ...

took their second victory of the season in the junior category to regain the championship lead.

Background

Championship standings prior to the event

Ott Tänak and

led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships by three-points ahead of defending world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were third, a further three points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held a forty-four-point lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT. In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen held a thirteen-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 finished ...

and Torstein Eriksen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Gus Greensmith 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 l ...

were third, another thirteen points further back. In the manufacturers' championship,

and

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 ...

tied with same 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 ...

sixty-one points 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 Ra ...

and

Jaime Zapata Jaime Jorge Zapata (May 7, 1978 – February 15, 2011) was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement#Homeland Security Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent who was ambushed and murd ...

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

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 yea ...

and Vincent Landais were second, following by Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson in third. In the Junior-World Rally Championship standings,

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 * ...

led Tom Kristensson and

by nine points in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively, with

Dennis Rådström Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

and Johan Johansson six points further behind in third in their own standings. In the Nations' standings,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

were first, six points cleared of Spain, with Germany eighteen 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 and privateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of sixty-five entries were received, with eleven crews entered with World Rally Cars and thirteen entered the World Rally Championship-2. Three crews were nominated to score points in the Pro class. A further fourteen entries were received for the Junior World Rally Championship.

Route

There were no significant changes to the route for the 2019 event outside some slight length reductions to selected stages.

Itinerary

All dates and times are EEST ( UTC+3).

Report

World Rally Cars

Elfyn Evans and

Scott Martin Scott Martin may refer to: * Scott Martin (media) (born 1989), Northern Irish media influencer and former rugby player * Scott Martin (thrower) (born 1982), Australian athlete in shot put and discus * Scott Martin (co-driver) (born 1981), British r ...

were entered by

, but were later withdrawn when Evans was injured contesting

Rally Estonia Rally Estonia is a rallying event organised each year in Estonia. It is the largest and most high-profile motorsport event in the country and runs on smooth gravel roads in the south of the country, some of which are purpose-built for the rally. ...

as part of their pre-event preparations. Gus Greensmith and

were withdrawn from the WRC 2-Pro category and re-entered in Evans' and Martin's place. Hayden Paddon and John Kennard were entered into the rally by

, but they were withdrawn after a heavy crash during testing that caused irreparable damage their car. It was a drama-free Friday for front runners, with

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 2019 ...

took a narrow lead into the second leg. However, the local Finn punctured his rear-left tyre in a right-hand corner, which dropped him down to third. Teammate Kris Meeke also ran into trouble at the same corner, but damage to the rear-left suspension forced the Northern Irishman retired from the day. Despite re-entering the rally on the final day, he still had to retire as he stopped again when he hit a rock. Gus Greensmith's rally ended his rally on SS20 after crashing into a tree. The rally was easily won by Ott Tänak, who won his tenth rally in his WRC career as well as winning his 200th stage victory during the event.

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

World Rally Championship-2 Pro

Defending WRC-2 winner

crashed out at the very first of the day and was unable to continue. Kalle Rovanperä was comfortable in the lead and collected his fourth straight WRC-2 Pro victory.

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

Local driver

Emil Lindholm Emil Lindholm (born 19 July 1996) is a Finnish rally driver. He is the son of former World Rally Championship driver Sebastian Lindholm. He is also the reigning champion of the Finnish Rally Championship The Finnish Rally Championship is the n ...

led the category before he crashed out in the second stage.

led the class until the last stage of leg two, when he misheard a pace note and smashed into a tree. Eventually,

snatched his first victory of the class after a consistent weekend.

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

Raul Badiu Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may r ...

heavily crashed his Ford Fiesta R2, suffering two fractured ribs and a concussion. The Romanian was forced to retire from the rally and received medical treatment. Roland Poom and Jürgen Heigl was the two major retirements in the second leg.

could have taken some good points from the event, but the crash in the penultimate stage means he was thirty-four points off the lead. Compatriot Tom Kristensson took the victory with eight stage victories to retake the championship lead.

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

Notes

References

External links

* * 2019 Rally Finland i
''e-wrc website''
* Th
official website
of the World Rally Championship {{DEFAULTSORT:Rally Finland, 2019 Finland 2019 in Finnish sport August 2019 sports events in Europe

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 ...