The 2019 Rally Argentina (also known as the XION Rally Argentina 2019) was a motor racing event for rally cars that held over four days between 25 and 28 April 2019. It marked the thirty-ninth running of Rally Argentina, and was the fifth round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and the newly created WRC-2 Pro class. The 2019 event was based in Villa Carlos Paz in Córdoba Province and consisted of eighteen special stages totalling competitive kilometres.
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the manufacturers' winners. Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson were the defending winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they did not participate in the event.
Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul won the rally for the second time in their career. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the manufacturers' winners. The Citroën Total crew of Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen won the WRC-2 Pro category, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category, while the crew of Pedro Heller and Marc Martí won the wider WRC-2 class. Østberg's win marked the first World Championship victory for the R5-spec Citroën C3.
Background Championship standings prior to the event Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships by two-points ahead of six-time world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were third, a further three points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held a twelve-point lead over Citroën Total WRT.
In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, Łukasz Pieniążek and Kamil Heller held a twenty-two-point lead ahead of Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were third, four points further back. In the manufacturers' championship, M-Sport Ford WRT lead Škoda Motorsport by sixty-six points, with Citroën Total eleven points further behind in third.
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by twelve points respectively. Nikolay Gryazin and Yaroslav Fedorov were second, following by Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud in third.
Entry list The following crews entered into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, WRC-2 Pro and privateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of twenty-seven entries were received, with ten crews entered with World Rally Cars and nine entered the World Rally Championship-2. Three crews were nominated to score points in the Pro class.
No. Driver Co-Driver Entrant Car Tyre World Rally Car entries 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 3 Teemu Suninen Marko Salminen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 5 Kris Meeke Toyota Yaris WRC 6 Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 10 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 11 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 33 Elfyn Evans M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 89 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC World Rally Championship-2 Pro entries 21 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 22 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen Citroën Total Citroën C3 R5 23 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Fabian Cretu Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 World Rally Championship-2 entries 41 Benito Guerra Jaime Zapata Benito Guerra Škoda Fabia R5 42 Alberto Heller José Díaz Alberto Heller Ford Fiesta R5 43 Kajetan Kajetanowicz Maciej Szczepaniak Kajetan Kajetanowicz Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 44 Takamoto Katsuta Daniel Barritt Takamoto Katsuta Ford Fiesta R5 45 Pedro Heller Marc Martí Pedro Heller Ford Fiesta R5 46 Paulo Nobre Gabriel Morales Paulo Nobre Škoda Fabia R5 Source:
Route No major changes are made to the route this year apart from some slight length-reductions to selected stages.
Itinerary All dates and times are ART (UTC-3). Date Time No. Stage name Distance 25 April 10:00 — Villa Carlos Paz [Shakedown] 4.25 km Leg 1 — 147.82 km 25 April 19:08 SS1 SSS Villa Carlos Paz 1.90 km 26 April 8:08 SS2 Las Bajadas / Villa del Dique 1 16.65 km 8:55 SS3 Amboy / Yacanto 1 29.85 km 10:08 SS4 Santa Rosa / San Agustin 1 23.44 km 12:03 SS5 SSS Parque Tematico 1 6.04 km 14:51 SS6 Las Bajadas / Villa del Dique 2 16.65 km 15:38 SS7 Amboy / Yacanto 2 29.85 km 16:51 SS8 Santa Rosa / San Agustin 2 23.44 km Leg 2 — 146.52 km 27 April 7:47 SS9 Tanti — Mataderos 1 13.92 km 8:38 SS10 Mataderos — Cuchilla Nevada 1 22.67 km 9:25 SS11 Cuchilla Nevada — Characato 1 33.65 km 11:26 SS12 SSS Parque Tematico 2 6.04 km 13:17 SS13 Tanti — Mataderos 2 13.92 km 14:08 SS14 Mataderos — Cuchilla Nevada 2 22.67 km 14:55 SS15 Cuchilla Nevada — Characato 2 33.65 km Leg 3 — 53.16 km 28 April 9:08 SS16 Copina — El Cóndor 16.43 km 10:31 SS17 Mina Clavero — Giulio Cesare 20.30 km 12:18 SS18 El Cóndor [Power Stage] 16.43 km Source:
Report World Rally Cars Normally, the road cleaner has to endure the insufficient grip, but this year in Argentina was different — persistent rain over the previous forty-eight hours meant the road was muddy and difficult to drive through for the crews who started down the road order. As a result, championship leader Thierry Neuville grabbed the lead as defending rally winner Ott Tänak lost valuable time with a broken drive shaft. The only casualty of the day was Esapekka Lappi, who was crashed out in the final stage of Friday and forced to retire from the rally.
Coming to the second leg, the battle for the victory was extremely intense until Tänak stopped his Yaris due to an alternator failure in the afternoon loop. Another casualty of the leg was Elfyn Evans, who rolled his Fiesta heavily after smashed a huge rock. As a result, the Welshman was forced to retire from the weekend. Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier lost power steering in the morning loop, while Kris Meeke lost his brakes. Following the drivers ahead suffered issues, Andreas Mikkelsen charged himself to second overall after the oil-leak issue fixed. Eventually, the Hyundai duos managed to bring their team a 1–2 finish. Ogier completed the podium as Meeke receive a ten-second penalty for deviating from the correct route in Saturday morning's speed test.
Classification Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Event Stage 1 1 11 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRTHyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:20:54.6 0.0 25 3 2 2 89 Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger-Amland Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:21:43.0 +48.4 18 0 3 3 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 3:21:59.4 +1:04.8 15 5 4 4 5 Kris Meeke Sebastian Marshall Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:22:00.8 +1:06.2 12 0 5 5 10 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:22:15.7 +1:21.1 10 4 6 6 6 Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:22:21.3 +1:26.7 8 2 7 7 3 Teemu Suninen Marko Salminen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:25:51.9 +4:57.3 6 0 8 8 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:35:19.4 +14:24.8 4 1 Retired SS10 33 Elfyn Evans Scott Martin M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC Accident 0 0 Retired SS8 4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC Accident 0 0
Special stages Date No. Stage name Distance Winners Car Time Class leaders 25 April — Villa Carlos Paz [Shakedown] 4.25 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 2:34.9 SS1 SSS Villa Carlos Paz 1.90 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 1:58.6 Tänak / Järveoja 26 April SS2 Las Bajadas / Villa del Dique 1 16.65 km Meeke / Marshall Toyota Yaris WRC 9:19.1 SS3 Amboy / Yacanto 1 29.85 km Stage cancelled SS4 Santa Rosa / San Agustin 1 23.44 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 14:05.5 Meeke / Marshall SS5 SSS Parque Tematico 1 6.04 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 4:45.4 SS6 Las Bajadas / Villa del Dique 2 16.65 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 9:09.7 SS7 Amboy / Yacanto 2 29.85 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 17:38.5 Tänak / Järveoja SS8 Santa Rosa / San Agustin 2 23.44 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 13:47.6Neuville / Gilsoul 27 April SS9 Tanti — Mataderos 1 13.92 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 9:08.1 SS10 Mataderos — Cuchilla Nevada 1 22.67 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 11:56.1 SS11 Cuchilla Nevada — Characato 1 33.65 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 19:45.8 SS12 SSS Parque Tematico 2 6.04 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 4:41.3 SS13 Tanti — Mataderos 2 13.92 km Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C3 WRC 8:59.9 SS14 Mataderos — Cuchilla Nevada 2 22.67 km Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C3 WRC 11:44.4 SS15 Cuchilla Nevada — Characato 2 33.65 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 19:34.5 28 April SS16 Copina — El Cóndor 16.43 km Meeke / Marshall Toyota Yaris WRC 13:08.2 SS17 Mina Clavero — Giulio Cesare 20.30 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 17:02.6 SS18 El Cóndor [Power Stage] 16.43 km Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C3 WRC 13:02.1
Championship standings Drivers' championships Co-drivers' championships Manufacturers' championshipsMoveDriverPointsMoveCo-driverPointsMoveManufacturerPoints 1 Thierry Neuville 110 Nicolas Gilsoul 110 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 157 2 Sébastien Ogier 100 Julien Ingrassia 100 1Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 120 3 Ott Tänak 82 Martin Järveoja 82 1 Citroën Total WRT 117 4 1 Kris Meeke 54 1Sebastian Marshall 54 M-Sport Ford WRT 78 5 1 Elfyn Evans 43 1 Scott Martin 43
World Rally Championship-2 Pro Mads Østberg comfortably led the rally despite a puncture, over four minutes ahead of eighteen-year-old driver Marco Bulacia Wilkinson, who won all three afternoon stages. Gus Greensmith failed to complete the first leg with a broken front suspension. In the end, Østberg comfortably won his second victory of the season, following by Greensmith, who re-join the rally on Saturday. Bulacia Wilkinson rolled his Fabia at the opening stage, which forced to retire from the rally in leg two.
Classification Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Class Event 9 1 22 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen Citroën Total Citroën C3 R5 3:35:23.1 0.0 25 2 15 2 21 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 3:56:25.4 +21:02.3 18 0 Retired SS9 23 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Fabian Cretu Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 Rolled 0 0
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.