2019 Rally Finland

2019 Rally Rally Finland
69. Neste Rally Finland
Round 9 of 14 in the 2019 World Rally Championship
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Rally Finland has the fastest average speed of any event on the calendar.
Host country Finland
Rally baseJyväskylä, Keski-Suomi
Dates run1 – 4 August 2019
Start locationJyväskylä, Keski-Suomi
Finish locationRuuhimäki, Toivakka
Stages23 (307.58 km; 191.12 miles)[1]
Stage surfaceGravel
Transport distance1,066.09 km (662.44 miles)
Overall distance1,373.67 km (853.56 miles)
Statistics
Crews registered65
Crews61 at start, 49 at finish
Overall results
Overall winnerEstonia Ott Tänak
Estonia Martin Järveoja
Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
2:30:40.3
Power Stage winnerEstonia Ott Tänak
Estonia Martin Järveoja
Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Support category results
WRC-2 winnerRussia Nikolay Gryazin
Russia Yaroslav Fedorov
Russia Nikolay Gryazin
2:41:09.0
J-WRC winnerSweden Tom Kristensson
Sweden Henrik Appelskog
Sweden Tom Kristensson
2:55:17.2

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.[2] It marked the sixty-ninth running of Rally Finland and was the ninth round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 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 307.58 km (191.12 mi).

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners.[3] The local crew of Eerik Pietarinen and Juhana Raitanen 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.[4] The Estonian crew of Ken Torn and Kuldar Sikk were the reigning winners of the Junior World Rally Championship, but they did not compete the rally.[5]

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.[6] 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 and Yaroslav Fedorov won the wider WRC-2 class as well as snatching their first WRC point.[7] Tom Kristensson and Henrik Appelskog took their second victory of the season in the junior category to regain the championship lead.[8]

  1. ^ "Itinerary" (PDF). nesterallyfinland.fi. Rally Finland. Retrieved 17 June 2019.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Breaking News: Ott on top in Finland". wrc.com. WRC. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  4. ^ "WRC 2 in Finland: Pietarinen claims home victory". wrc.com. WRC. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Junior WRC in Finland: Maiden victory for Torn". wrc.com. WRC. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Sunday in Finland: Double delight for Tänak". wrc.com. WRC. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  7. ^ "WRC 2 in Finland: Fourth win for dominant Kalle". wrc.com. WRC. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Junior WRC in Finland: Kristensson on target". wrc.com. WRC. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.