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, 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 .
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners. 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. 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.
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 and Yaroslav Fedorov won the wider WRC-2 class as well as snatching their first WRC point. Tom Kristensson and Henrik Appelskog 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 Martin Järveoja 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 and Torstein Eriksen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson were third, another thirteen points further back. In the manufacturers' championship, Škoda Motorsport and M-Sport Ford WRT tied with same points, with Citroën Total sixty-one points behind in third.
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Benito Guerra and Jaime Zapata led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by eighteen points respectively. Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais were second, following by Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson in third.
In the Junior-World Rally Championship standings, Jan Solans and Mauro Barreiro led Tom Kristensson and Henrik Appelskog by nine points in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively, with Dennis Rådström and Johan Johansson six points further behind in third in their own standings. In the Nations' standings, Sweden 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.
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 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 18 Jouni Virtanen Risto Pietiläinen JanPro Ford Fiesta WRC 33 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 42 Craig Breen Paul Nagle Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 89 Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger-Amland Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC World Rally Championship-2 Pro entries 21 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 23 Eerik Pietarinen Juhana Raitanen Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 24 Eric Camilli Benjamin Veillas M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 World Rally Championship-2 entries 41 Pierre-Louis Loubet Vincent Landais Pierre-Louis Loubet Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 43 Takamoto Katsuta Daniel Barritt Takamoto Katsuta Ford Fiesta R5 44 Nikolay Gryazin Yaroslav Fedorov Nikolay Gryazin Škoda Fabia R5 45 Henning Solberg Ilka Minor Henning Solberg Škoda Fabia R5 46 Paulo Nobre Gabriel Morales Paulo Nobre Škoda Fabia R5 47 Emil Lindholm Mikael Korhonen Emil Lindholm Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 48 Johan Kristoffersson Stig Rune Skjærmoen Johan Kristoffersson Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 49 Jari Huttunen Antti Linnaketo Jari Huttunen Hyundai i20 R5 50 Tomi Tukiainen Mikko Pohjanharju Tomi Tukiainen Škoda Fabia R5 51 Grégoire Munster Louis Louka Grégoire Munster Škoda Fabia R5 Junior World Rally Championship entries 71 Jan Solans Mauro Barreiro Rally Team Spain Ford Fiesta R2 72 Tom Kristensson Henrik Appelskog Tom Kristensson Ford Fiesta R2 73 Dennis Rådström Johan Johansson Dennis Rådström Ford Fiesta R2 74 Julius Tannert Jürgen Heigl ADAC Sachsen Ford Fiesta R2 75 Roland Poom Ken Järveoja Roland Poom Ford Fiesta R2 76 Tom Williams Phil Hall Tom Williams Ford Fiesta R2 77 Mārtiņš Sesks Krišjānis Caune Ford Fiesta R2 78 Raul Badiu Gabriel Lazăr Raul Badiu Ford Fiesta R2 79 Enrico Oldrati Elia De Guio Enrico Oldrati Ford Fiesta R2 80 Sean Johnston Alex Kihurani Sean Johnston Ford Fiesta R2 81 Fabrizio Zaldivar Fernando Mussano Fabrizio Zaldivar Ford Fiesta R2 82 Nico Knacker Michael Wenzel ADAC Weser-Ems Ford Fiesta R2 83 Sami Pajari Antti Haapala Team Flying Finn Ford Fiesta R2 84 Aleksi Röyhkiö Ville Mannisenmäki Aleksi Röyhkiö Ford Fiesta R2 Other Major Entries 105 Adrien Fourmaux Renaud Jamoul Adrien Fourmaux Ford Fiesta R2 Source:
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). Date Time No. Stage name Distance 1 August 09:00 — Vesala [Shakedown] 4.26 km Leg 1 — 128.86 km 1 August 19:00 SS1 Harju 1 2.31 km 2 August 8:18 SS2 Oittila 19.34 km 9:21 SS3 Moksi 1 20.04 km 10:24 SS4 Urria 1 12.28 km 11:16 SS5 Ässämäki 1 12.33 km 12:39 SS6 Äänekoski 1 7.80 km 15:24 SS7 Moksi 2 20.04 km 16:27 SS8 Urria 2 12.28 km 17:19 SS9 Ässämäki 2 12.33 km 18:42 SS10 Äänekoski 2 7.80 km 20:00 SS11 Harju 2 2.31 km Leg 2 — 132.98 km 3 August 8:08 SS12 Pihlajakoski 1 14.42 km 9:10 SS13 Päijälä 1 22.87 km 10:08 SS14 Kakaristo 1 18.70 km 11:34 SS15 Leustu 1 10.50 km 15:08 SS16 Pihlajakoski 2 14.42 km 16:10 SS17 Päijälä 2 22.87 km 17:08 SS18 Kakaristo 2 18.70 km 18:34 SS19 Leustu 2 10.50 km Leg 3 — 45.74 km 4 August 8:38 SS20 Laukaa 1 11.75 km 9:38 SS21 Ruuhimäki 1 11.12 km 11:01 SS22 Laukaa 2 11.75 km 13:18 SS23 Ruuhimäki 2 [Power Stage] 11.12 km Source:
Report World Rally Cars Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were entered by M-Sport Ford WRT, but were later withdrawn when Evans was injured contesting Rally Estonia as part of their pre-event preparations. Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson 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 M-Sport Ford WRT, 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 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 Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Event Stage 1 1 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:30:40.3 0.0 25 5 2 2 4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 2:31:05.9 +25.6 18 0 3 3 10 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:31:13.5 +33.2 15 1 4 4 89 Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger-Amland Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:31:33.7 +53.4 12 3 5 5 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 2:31:36.4 +56.1 10 2 6 6 11 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:32:12.7 +1:32.4 8 4 7 7 42 Craig Breen Paul Nagle Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:32:18.5 +1:38.2 6 0 8 8 3 Teemu Suninen Marko Salminen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 2:33:14.1 +2:33.8 4 0 Retired SS22 5 Kris Meeke Sebastian Marshall Toyota Gazoo Racing WRTToyota Yaris WRC Off road 0 0 Retired SS21 33 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC Off road 0 0
Special stages Date No. Stage name Distance Winners Car Time Class leaders 1 August — Vesala [Shakedown] 4.26 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 1:53.8 SS1 Harju 1 2.31 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1:47.3 Neuville / Gilsoul 2 August SS2 Oittila 19.34 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 9:36.6 Tänak / Järveoja SS3 Moksi 1 20.04 km Meeke / Marshall Toyota Yaris WRC 9:56.3 SS4 Urria 1 12.28 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 6:08.0 SS5 Ässämäki 1 12.33 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 5:49.7 SS6 Äänekoski 1 7.80 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 3:38.1 SS7 Moksi 2 20.04 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 9:45.7 Latvala / Anttila SS8 Urria 2 12.28 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 6:02.8 SS9 Ässämäki 2 12.33 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 5:43.8 SS10 Äänekoski 2 7.80 km Meeke / Marshall Toyota Yaris WRC 3:33.1 SS11 Harju 2 2.31 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1:48.3 3 August SS12 Pihlajakoski 1 14.42 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 7:30.0 Tänak / Järveoja SS13 Päijälä 1 22.87 km Meeke / Marshall Toyota Yaris WRC 10:37.4 Latvala / Anttila SS14 Kakaristo 1 18.70 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 9:00.1 Tänak / Järveoja SS15 Leustu 1 10.50 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 5:27.2 SS16 Pihlajakoski 2 14.42 km Lappi / Ferm Citroën C3 WRC 7:21.5 SS17 Päijälä 2 22.87 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 10:28.9 SS18 Kakaristo 2 18.70 km Lappi / Ferm Citroën C3 WRC 8:51.5 SS19 Leustu 2 10.50 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 5:22.9 4 August SS20 Laukaa 1 11.75 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 5:29.7 SS21 Ruuhimäki 1 11.12 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 5:30.9 SS22 Laukaa 2 11.75 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 5:23.1 SS23 Ruuhimäki 2 [Power Stage] 11.12 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 5:24.3
Championship standings