The 2019 Rally Turkey (also known as Marmaris Rally Turkey 2019) is a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 12 and 15 September 2019. It marked the twelfth running of Rally Turkey and was the eleventh 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 Marmaris in Muğla Province, and was contested over seventeen 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 Škoda Motorsport crew of 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 were promoted to the newly created WRC-2 Pro class.
Reigning World Drivers' and World Co-Drivers Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia won in Turkey for the first time in their careers. Their team, Citroën World Rally Team, were the manufacturers' winners. The M-Sport Ford WRT crew of Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson won the WRC-2 Pro category, while the Polish crew of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak won the wider WRC-2 class to take the championship lead, finishing third in the combined WRC-2 category.
Background Championship standings prior to the event Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships by thirty-three-points ahead of Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul. Defending world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia were third, a further seven points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held an eight-point lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT.
In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were forty-one points ahead of Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson were third, another twenty-five points further back. In the manufacturers' championship, Škoda Motorsport led M-Sport Ford WRT by twenty-nine points, with Citroën Total eighty-five points behind in third.
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Nikolay Gryazin and Yaroslav Fedorov led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by four points respectively. Benito Guerra and Jaime Zapata were second, while Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais were third, six points separating them.
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 and privateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of thirty-one entries were received, with ten crews entered with World Rally Cars and sixteen 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 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 7 Pontus Tidemand Ola Fløene M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta 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 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 22 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II 23 Jan Kopecký Pavel Dresler Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 Evo World Rally Championship-2 entries 41 Kajetan Kajetanowicz Maciej Szczepaniak Kajetan Kajetanowicz Škoda Fabia R5 42 Fabio Andolfi Simone Scattolin Fabio Andolfi Škoda Fabia R5 43 Henning Solberg Ilka Minor Henning Solberg Škoda Fabia R5 44 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Fabian Cretu Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Škoda Fabia R5 45 Paulo Nobre Gabriel Morales Paulo Nobre Škoda Fabia R5 46 "Pedro" Emanuele Baldaccini "Pedro" Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II 47 Diogo Salvi Hugo Magalhães Diogo Salvi Škoda Fabia R5 48 Burak Cukurova Vedat Bostanci Burak Cukurova Škoda Fabia R5 49 Murat Bostanci Onur Vatansever Murat Bostanci Ford Fiesta R5 50 Deniz Fahri Bahadir Gücenmez Deniz Fahri Škoda Fabia R5 51 Gaurav Gill Glenn Macneall Gaurav Gill Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II 52 Bugra Banaz Burak Erdener Bugra Banaz Ford Fiesta R5 53 Bora Manyera Cem Cerkez Bora Manyera Škoda Fabia R5 Source:
Route Two brand new stages were introduced into the route, while the twisty Çiçekli stage has moved from Friday to Sunday and runs in opposite direction.
Itinerary All dates and times are TRT (UTC+3). Date Time No. Stage name Distance 12 September 10:00 — Asparan [Shakedown] 4.70 km Leg 1 — 162.84 km 12 September 20:08 SS1 SSS Turkey 2.00 km 13 September 8:08 SS2 İçmeler 1 24.75 km 9:31 SS3 Çetibeli 1 38.10 km 10:54 SS4 Ula 1 17.57 km 14:17 SS5 İçmeler 2 24.75 km 15:40 SS6 Çetibeli 2 38.10 km 17:03 SS7 Ula 2 17.57 km Leg 2 — 117.16 km 14 September 8:35 SS8 Yeşilbelde 1 32.83 km 10:08 SS9 Datça 1 8.75 km 11:14 SS10 Kızlan 1 17.00 km 13:52 SS11 Yeşilbelde 2 32.83 km 15:08 SS12 Datça 2 8.75 km 16:04 SS13 Kızlan 2 17.00 km Leg 3 — 38.77 km 15 September 9:38 SS14 Marmaris 1 7.14 km 10:32 SS15 Gökçe 11.32 km 11:20 SS16 Çiçekli 13.17 km 13:18 SS17 Marmaris 2 [Power Stage] 7.14 km Source:
Report World Rally Cars The M-Sport Ford WRT crew of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin had been due to return, having missed the Rallies of Finland and Germany when Evans injured himself in a pre-event testing accident while preparing for Rally Finland. However, Evans' recovery necessitated further delays, with Wales Rally GB earmarked for their return.
Several drivers suffered punctures, including three Toyota drivers and Dani Sordo. Esapekka Lappi led into the second leg, following by champion teammate Sébastien Ogier. Thierry Neuville was in the eighth spot after the morning loop, but a masterful drive in the afternoon loop promoted the Belgian to third.
Saturday was full of dramas. At the opening stage of the leg, championship contender Neuville went off the road and lost approximately four minutes, which dropped him down to ninth. Moments later, championship leader Ott Tänak was out as well. His Yaris broke down at the road section and was unable to move further, which means his day was over. Following Ogier's major rivals in troubles, the defending world champion put himself on the top of the leaderboard as of Friday, just 0.2 second ahead of teammate Lappi. Eventually, they both safely completed the rally to bring Citroën their first 1-2 finish since 2015 Rally Argentina.
Classification Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Event Stage 1 1 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 3:50:12.1 0.0 25 3 2 2 4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Citroën Total WRT Citroën C3 WRC 3:50:46.8 +34.7 18 0 3 3 89 Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger-Amland Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:51:16.6 +1:04.5 15 0 4 4 3 Teemu Suninen Marko Salminen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:51:47.2 +1:35.1 12 1 5 5 6 Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:52:38.0 +2:25.9 10 0 6 6 10 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:53:11.2 +2:59.1 8 2 7 7 5 Kris Meeke Sebastian Marshall Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:54:05.4 +3:53.3 6 0 8 8 11 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 3:55:46.9 +5:34.8 4 4 9 9 7 Pontus Tidemand Ola Fløene M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:57:35.0 +7:22.9 2 0 16 10 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 4:29:22.3 +39:10.2 0 5
Special stages Date No. Stage name Distance Winners Car Time Class leaders 12 September — Asparan [Shakedown] 4.70 km Meeke / Marshall Toyota Yaris WRC 3:25.3 SS1 SSS Turkey 2.00 km Neuville / GilsoulMikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRCHyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:02.6 Neuville / GilsoulMikkelsen / Jæger-Amland 13 September SS2 İçmeler 1 24.75 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 18:12.4 Latvala / Anttila SS3 Çetibeli 1 38.10 km Lappi / Ferm Citroën C3 WRC 28:01.2 Lappi / Ferm SS4 Ula 1 17.57 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 12:21.6 SS5 İçmeler 2 24.75 km Meeke / Marshall Toyota Yaris WRC 18:05.8 SS6 Çetibeli 2 38.10 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 27:59.9 SS7 Ula 2 17.57 km Sordo / del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 12:29.3 14 September SS8 Yeşilbelde 1 32.83 km Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C3 WRC 25:42.6 SS9 Datça 1 8.75 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 7:05.3 SS10 Kızlan 1 17.00 km Lappi / Ferm Citroën C3 WRC 7:16.7 SS11 Yeşilbelde 2 32.83 km Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C3 WRC 25:19.6 SS12 Datça 2 8.75 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 6:59.1 Ogier / Ingrassia SS13 Kızlan 2 17.00 km Lappi / Ferm Citroën C3 WRC 7:16.0 15 September SS14 Marmaris 1 7.14 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 5:04.7 SS15 Gökçe 11.32 km Latvala / Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 8:34.1 SS16 Çiçekli 13.17 km Mikkelsen / Jæger-Amland Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 11:01.3 SS17 Marmaris 2 [Power Stage] 7.14 km Tänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 4:55.2
Championship standings Drivers' championships Co-drivers' championships Manufacturers' championshipsMoveDriverPointsMoveCo-driverPointsMoveManufacturerPoints 1 Ott Tänak 210 Martin Järveoja 210 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 314 2 1 Sébastien Ogier 193 1 Julien Ingrassia 193 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 295 3 1 Thierry Neuville 180 1 Nicolas Gilsoul 180 Citroën Total WRT 259 4 1 Andreas Mikkelsen 94 1 Anders Jæger-Amland 94 M-Sport Ford WRT 184 5 1 Kris Meeke 86 1 Sebastian Marshall 86
World Rally Championship-2 Pro Jan Kopecký survived a day of "rockstorm" after two punctures, while his teammate Kalle Rovanperä retired form the day as he rolled his Fabia in the morning's opening test. However, Kopecký suffered yet another puncture, which lost his lead to Gus Greensmith. However, Greensmith rolled his Fiesta R5 after the flying finish at the second to last stage. He was able to complete the final test to take his second Pro victory.
Classification Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Class Event 10 1 22 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II 4:05:30.8 0.0 25 1 11 2 23 Jan Kopecký Pavel Dresler Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 4:06:00.2 +29.4 18 0 18 3 21 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 4:33:21.2 +27:50.4 15 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.