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WRC - 2019 RALLY ARGENTINA - PREVIEW

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19.04.19

The pampas plains & rugged mountains of Argentina will play host to round five of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship from April 25-28.
 

2018 FIA Rally Argentina - O. Tänak/M. Järveoja (photo credit: DPPI/FIA)

After the many twists and turns of Corsica, the vast pampas plains and rugged mountains of Argentina will play host to round five of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship - and the first stop of a double-header on South American gravel - from April 25-28.

Based in Villa Carlos Paz in the Cordoba province, the event is renowned for its vibrant and colourful atmosphere created by the huge number of passionate fans that line the routes, many of them camping at night with friends and family to occupy an outdoor ringside seat when their WRC heroes fly past.

The rally features a challenging mixture of gravel roads, from fast, soft and sandy roads in the valley to rocky, narrow tracks high up in the mountains, where fog and ice can be found. For the competing crews, it is a tough and contrasted test with constantly changing conditions. There are also many river crossings on the itinerary with iconic watersplahes.

Belgium’s Thierry Neuville travels to South America as the championship leader, following his final-stage victory in Corsica, but the Hyundai driver has only a narrow advantage over his main rivals. France’s Sébastien Ogier is just two points adrift for Citroën, with Toyota’s Ott Tänak from Estonia just five points away from the leader. While Tänak took a dominant win in Argentina twelve months ago and Neuville triumphed in one of the closest fights in WRC history in 2017, six-time FIA World Rally champion Ogier is still in search of his first win on the event.

M-Sport, Citroën and Škoda have all nominated drivers for the FIA WRC 2 Pro Championship in Gus Greensmith (GBR), Mads Østberg (NOR) and Marco Bulacia Wilkinson (BOL) respectively, while six further entries make for another competitive field in the FIA WRC 2 category.

 

THE 2019 ROUTE

This year’s Rally Argentina route features only minor changes from that run in 2018. The action again begins with a super special stage in the resort city of Villa Carlos Paz, which also hosts the service park. A similar test at a local theme park is run the middle of both Friday’s and Saturday’s legs. The first full day otherwise features two loops of three stages in Calamuchita Valley, while Saturday features a similar format in Punilla Valley. On Sunday, the rally heads into the Traslasierra mountains. There are two runs of the event’s signature El Condor test – the latter as the rally-ending Power Stage – separated by the Giulio Cesare mountain stage, which is driven in the reverse direction to last year.

 

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The Accreditation Centre is located in the entrance hall to the auditorium of Hotel Portal Del Lago, Gob. Ortiz y Herrera (in the corner of Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera), 5152 Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba.

 

The opening hours are:

Tuesday 23 April14:00 – 20:00 hrs  
Wednesday 24 April08:00 – 20:00 hrs  
Thursday 25 April08:00 – 20:00 hrs
Friday 26 April08:00 - 12:00

 

RALLY ARGENTINA TIMETABLE & MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

Thursday 25 April 
Mandatory shakedown (P1)10:00 - 11:30 hrs
Optional shakedown (All priority P1, P2P, P2)11:30 - 13:30 hrs
Shakedown (others)13:30 - 14:30 hrs
‘Meet the Crews’ Top 3 Shakedown, Córdoba truck, Carlos Paz Service Park14:00 hrs
FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Center, Carlos Paz SP14:20 hrs
Photo-shoot for priority crews, location TBD, Carlos Paz SP18:00
Start of the Rally (Section 1), Parc Fermé, Villa Carlos Paz18:30
  
Friday 26 April 
First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Villa Carlos Paz SP12:28 hrs
First car arrives for media zone & final service, Villa Carlos Paz SP18:31 hrs
‘Meet the Crews’, Córdoba Truck, Carlos Paz SPDuring the 45’ service
  
Saturday 27 April 
First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Villa Carlos Paz SP11:51 hrs
First car arrives for media zone & final service, Villa Carlos Paz SP16:55 hrs
‘Meet the Crews’, Córdoba Truck, Carlos Paz SPDuring the 45’ service
  
Sunday 28 April 
Regroup before SS18 Power Stage11:41 hrs
Podium Ceremony & Price Giving – Next to Service Park in Carlos Paz15:00 hrs
FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Center,  
Auditorium Hotel Portal del Lago, Carlos Paz16:00 hrs

 

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

Thursday 25 AprilFIA World Rally Championship
 Thierry Neuville (BEL), Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
 Elfyn Evans (GBR), M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
 Kris Meeke, Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
 Esapekka Lappi (FIN), Citroën Total World Rally Team
 FIA WRC 2 Pro Championship
 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson (BOL), Škoda Motorsport
 Gus Greensmith (GBR), M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
 FIA WRC 2 Championship
 Pedro Heller (CHL)
 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL)
  
Sunday 28 AprilWinning FIA WRC 2 Pro Championship crew
 Winning FIA WRC 2 Championship crew
 Top three crews in the overall classification
 Representative of the winning manufacturer

 

MANUFACTURER WRC ENTRIES, 2019 WRC RALLY ARGENTINA

Citroën Total WRTSébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (#1)
 Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (#4)
  
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRTThierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (#11)
 Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jæger-Amland (#89)
 Dani Sordo / Carlos Del Barrio (#6)
  
M-Sport Ford WRTElfyn Evans / Scott Martin (#33)
 Teemu Suninen / Marko Salminen (#3)
  
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRTOtt Tänak / Martin Järveoja (#8)
 Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (#5)
 Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (#10)

 

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships is available on the following link:
https://www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2019/standings