The 2019 Rally Italia Sardegna (also known as Rally Italia Sardegna 2019) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 13 and 16 June 2019. It marked the sixteenth running of Rally Italia Sardegna and was the eighth round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and the newly created WRC-2 Pro class. It was also the third round of the Junior World Rally Championship. The 2019 event was based in Alghero in Sardinia, and was contested over nineteen special stages with a total a competitive distance of .
Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were the defending rally winners. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners. Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler 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 and Carlos del Barrio won their second career victory. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, successfully defended their titles. The Škoda Motorsport crew of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen 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 and Vincent Landais won the wider WRC-2 class. The third round of the J-WRC championship was taken by the Rally Team Spain crew of Jan Solans and Mauro Barreiro.
Background Championship standings prior to the event Defending world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships with a two-point ahead of Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja. Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul 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.
In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen held a three-point lead ahead of Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Łukasz Pieniążek and Elliott Edmondson were third, nine and ten points further back respectively. In the manufacturers' championship, M-Sport Ford WRT led Škoda Motorsport by thirty-one points, with Citroën Total thirty-three points further behind in third.
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Benito Guerra and Jaime Zapata led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by twenty-two points respectively. Takamoto Katsuta and Daniel Barritt were second, following by Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson in third.
In the Junior-World Rally Championship standings, Tom Kristensson and Henrik Appelskog led Jan Solans and Mauro Barreiro 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, with Estonia 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 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.
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 Jarmo Lehtinen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 5 Kris Meeke Sebastian Marshall Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 6 Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 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 26 Martin Prokop Jan Tománek MP-Sports Ford Fiesta RS WRC 33 Elfyn Evans Scott Martin M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 69 Juho Hänninen Tomi Tuominen Tommi Mäkinen Racing Toyota Yaris WRC 89 Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger-Amland Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC World Rally Championship-2 Pro entries 21 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen Citroën Total Citroën C3 R5 22 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 23 Jan Kopecký Pavel Dresler Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 24 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 World Rally Championship-2 entries 41 Takamoto Katsuta Daniel Barritt Takamoto Katsuta Ford Fiesta R5 42 Ole Christian Veiby Jonas Andersson Ole Christian Veiby Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 43 Nikolay Gryazin Yaroslav Fedorov Nikolay Gryazin Škoda Fabia R5 44 Fabio Andolfi Simone Scattolin Fabio Andolfi Škoda Fabia R5 45 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Fabian Cretu Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Škoda Fabia R5 46 Kajetan Kajetanowicz Maciej Szczepaniak Kajetan Kajetanowicz Škoda Fabia R5 48 Guillaume De Mevius Martijn Wydaeghe Guillaume De Mevius Citroën C3 R5 49 Pierre-Louis Loubet Vincent Landais Pierre-Louis Loubet Škoda Fabia R5 50 Simone Tempestini Sergiu Itu Simone Tempestini Hyundai i20 R5 51 Nil Solans Marc Martí Nil Solans Ford Fiesta R5 Junior World Rally Championship entries 71 Tom Kristensson Henrik Appelskog Tom Kristensson Ford Fiesta R2 72 Jan Solans Mauro Barreiro Rally Team Spain Ford Fiesta R2 73 Dennis Rådström Johan Johansson Dennis Rådström Ford Fiesta R2 74 Julius Tannert Jürgen Heigl ADAC Sachsen Ford Fiesta R2 75 Tom Williams Phil Hall Tom Williams Ford Fiesta R2 76 Mārtiņš Sesks Krišjānis Caune Ford Fiesta R2 77 Sean Johnston Alex Kihurani Sean Johnston Ford Fiesta R2 78 Enrico Oldrati Elia De Guio Enrico Oldrati Ford Fiesta R2 79 Raul Badiu Gabriel Lazăr Raul Badiu Ford Fiesta R2 80 Fabrizio Zaldívar Fernando Mussano Fabrizio Zaldívar Ford Fiesta R2 81 Nico Knacker Tobias Braun ADAC Weiser-Ems Ford Fiesta R2 Other Major Entries 96 Albert von Thurn und Taxis Bernhard Ettel Albert von Thurn und Taxis Škoda Fabia R5 100 Giandomenico Basso Lorenzo Granai LORAN s.r.l Škoda Fabia R5 101 Luca Rossetti Eleonora Mori F.P.F. Sport Citroën C3 R5 134 Adrien Fourmaux Renaud Jamoul Adrien Fourmaux Ford Fiesta R2 Source:
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 (UTC+2). Date Time No. Stage name Distance 13 June 09:00 — Olmedo [Shakedown] 3.92 km Leg 1 — 124.20 km 13 June 17:00 SS1 Ittiri Arena Show 2.00 km 14 June 8:03 SS2 Tula 1 22.25 km 9:20 SS3 Castelsardo 1 14.72 km 10:09 SS4 Tergu — Osilo 1 14.14 km 11:18 SS5 Monte Baranta 1 10.99 km 14:42 SS6 Tula 2 22.25 km 15:59 SS7 Castelsardo 2 14.72 km 16:48 SS8 Tergu — Osilo 2 14.14 km 18:04 SS9 Monte Baranta 2 10.99 km Leg 2 — 142.42 km 15 June 8:08 SS10 Monte Lerno 1 14.97 km 9:11 SS11 Monti di Alà 1 28.21 km 10:03 SS12 Coiluna — Loelle 1 28.03 km 16:08 SS13 Monte Lerno 2 14.97 km 17:11 SS14 Monti di Alà 2 28.21 km 18:03 SS15 Coiluna — Loelle 2 28.03 km Leg 3 — 41.90 km 16 June 8:15 SS16 Cala Flumini 1 14.06 km 9:08 SS17 Sassari — Argentiera 1 6.89 km 11:15 SS18 Cala Flumini 2 14.06 km 12:08 SS19 Sassari — Argentiera 2 [Power Stage] 6.89 km Source:
Report World Rally Cars The first leg saw defending world champion Sébastien Ogier, who was the road-cleaner in Sardinia, caught out after hitting a huge rock in the morning loop. Ogier's Citroën C3 sustained serious suspension damage, forcing him and co-driver Julien Ingrassia to retire from the stage. Teemu Suninen took an early lead until a spin handed the lead to Jari-Matti Latvala, 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. Thierry Neuville also hit trouble as his i20 slid nose-first into a ditch, with the Hyundai's radiator being pierced in the ordeal. Eventually, Dani Sordo became the overnight leader.
On day two, with a much better road position, Ott Tänak 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 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, however, when a late power steering failure deprived the Estonian of a third consecutive rally win, handing the victory to Sordo; his first rally win since the 2013 Rallye Deutschland.
Classification Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Event Stage 1 1 6 Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:32:27.2 0.0 25 0 2 2 3 Teemu Suninen Marko Salminen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:32:40.9 +13.7 18 0 3 3 89 Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger-Amland Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:32:59.8 +32.6 15 5 4 4 33 Elfyn Evans Scott Martin M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:33:00.7 +33.5 12 1 5 5 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:33:57.3 +1:30.1 10 0 6 6 11 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:34:43.9 +2:16.7 8 3 7 7 4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 3:35:26.8 +2:59.6 6 0 8 8 5 Kris Meeke Sebastian Marshall Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:37:07.3 +4:40.1 4 0 19 9 10 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:53:03.2 +20:36.0 0 2 41 10 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 4:55:25.7 +1:22:58.5 0 4 Retired SS19 69 Juho Hänninen Tomi Tuominen Tommi Mäkinen Racing Toyota Yaris WRC Withdrawn 0 0
Special stages Date No. Stage name Distance Winners Car Time Class leaders 13 June — Olmedo [Shakedown] 3.92 km Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C3 WRC 3:00.0 SS1 Ittiri Arena Show 2.00 km Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C3 WRC 2:00.7 Ogier / Ingrassia 14 June SS2 Tula 1 22.25 km Suninen / Lehtinen Ford Fiesta WRC 18:45.0 Suninen / Lehtinen SS3 Castelsardo 1 14.72 km Suninen / Lehtinen Ford Fiesta WRC 11:05.4 SS4 Tergu — Osilo 1 14.14 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 9:12.7 Latvala / Anttila SS5 Monte Baranta 1 10.99 km Lappi / Ferm Citroën C3 WRC 8:17.4 SS6 Tula 2 22.25 km Suninen / Lehtinen Ford Fiesta WRC 18:24.9 Sordo / del BarrioTänak / Järveoja SS7 Castelsardo 2 14.72 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 10:52.8 SS8 Tergu — Osilo 2 14.14 km Sordo / del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8:53.2 Sordo / del Barrio SS9 Monte Baranta 2 10.99 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 7:58.4 15 June SS10 Monte Lerno 1 14.97 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 9:18.3 SS11 Monti di Alà 1 28.21 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 16:58.3 SS12 Coiluna — Loelle 1 28.03 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 18:10.6 Tänak / Järveoja SS13 Monte Lerno 2 14.97 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 9:09.6 SS14 Monti di Alà 2 28.21 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC16:31.8 SS15 Coiluna — Loelle 2 28.03 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC17:49.0 16 June SS16 Cala Flumini 1 14.06 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8:48.4 SS17 Sassari — Argentiera 1 6.89 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 4:59.0 SS18 Cala Flumini 2 14.06 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8:34.8 SS19 Sassari — Argentiera 2 [Power Stage] 6.89 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 4:54.0 Sordo / del Barrio
Championship standings