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WRC - Rally Portugal - Preview

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24.05.19

The FIA World Rally Championship returns to Europe and the hugely popular Rally de Portugal (31 May - 2 June) for round seven and the first European gravel event of the 2019 season.
 
Based in Matosinhos, close to the splendid coastal city of Porto, the event draws in thousands of fans to watch the action over fast, technical and twisty stages. The gravel roads are soft and sandy with a lot of grip, while large ruts can form for the second pass.
 
After the South American double-header in Argentina and Chile, the top three in the drivers’ championship are separated by just 12 points. Citroën’s Sébastien Ogier leads, 10 points ahead of Rally Chile’s winner Ott Tänak (Toyota), while Thierry Neuville is two points further behind and ready to bounce back following the big crash that ended his rally last time out. The Belgian is joined by Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo in the Hyundai line-up, the latter replacing Andreas Mikkelsen for this event. Competing with the World Rally Car crews for the first time in Portugal, Gus Greensmith is M-Sport’s third entry on the rally, alongside Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen.
 
In the FIA WRC 2 Pro class, Škoda gives a debut to the latest version of its Fabia R5 machine, with Kalle Rovanperä and Jan Kopecký behind the wheel. Mads Østberg and Łukasz Pieniążek are also eager to show their skills for Citroën and M-Sport respectively, while there are a further 23 cars entered in the FIA WRC 2 category.
 

THE 2019 ROUTE
 
A new twist for this year is a move south for the ceremonial start in Coimbra on Thursday before crews tackle two loops of three stages on Friday in the area around Arganil - last visited by the FIA WRC in 2001. With no mid-day service, the day concludes with a super special stage at the Lousada rallycross circuit. Saturday heads into the Cabreira mountains with three stages each run twice. Sunday focuses on the Fafe area for a total of five stages, including two passes of the Fafe stage itself and its famous jump – the second run designated as the rally-ending Power Stage.



RALLY DATA

Total distance:1,433.15 km
Stage distance:306.97 km (21.42%)
Number of stages:18



MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The Accreditation Centre is located in the Media Center at Exponor Feira International do Porto (Av. Dr. Antonio Macedo 574, Matosinhos).

The opening hours are:

Tuesday 28 May14:00 – 19:00 hrs
Wednesday 29 May08:00 – 20:00 hrs
Thursday 30 May08:00 – 20:00 hrs
Friday 31 May06:30 – 13:00 hrs


A remote accreditation desk will also be open in Coimbra on Thursday 30 May (14:00 - 22:00). If you wish to pick up your accreditation there, please notify the press team by email before Wed. 29 May, 12:00: accreditation@acp.pt


RALLY PORTUGAL TIMETABLE & MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA
 

Wednesday 29 May 
Mandatory media safety briefing, Photographers’ Room, Media Center17:00 hrs
  
Thursday 30 May 
Mandatory shakedown (P1), Paredes Baltar08:00 - 11:30 hrs
Mandatory shakedown (P2 & P2P), Paredes Baltar09:30 - 11:30 hrs
Shakedown (others), Paredes Baltar11:30 - 13:30 hrs
‘Meet the Crews’ Top 3 Shakedown, central stage, Exponor SP12:15 hrs
FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Center, Exponor SP13:00 hrs
Photo-shoot “family photo” P1 crews, Joanina Library, Coimbra University17:40
Autograph session for priority crews, Coimbra18:15 – 18:45
Ceremonial start, Coimbra19:00
  
Friday 31 May 
Start of the rally (section 1)08:30 hrs
First car arrives for regroup, media zone & tyre fitting zone, Arganil11:48 hrs
First car arrives for media zone, regroup & final service, Exponor SP20:00 hrs
‘Meet the Crews’ post-Leg 1, central stage, Exponor SPDuring the 49’ service
  
Saturday 1 June 
First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Exponor SP12:35 hrs
First car arrives for media zone, regroup & final service, Exponor SP19:05 hrs
‘Meet the Crews’ post-Leg 2, central stage, Exponor SPDuring the 49’ service
  
Sunday 2 June 
Regroup before Power Stage, Fafe10:55 hrs
Podium Ceremony & Price Giving, Marginal de Matosinhos15:45 hrs
FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Center at Exponor SP16:30 hrs


FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE
 

Thursday 30 MayFIA WRC
 Sébastien Ogier (FRA), Citroën Total WRT
 Ott Tänak (EST), Toyota Gazoo Rally Team
 Sébastien Loeb (FRA), Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT
 Gus Greensmith (GBR), M-Sport Ford WRT 
 FIA WRC 2 PRO 
 Lukasz Pieniazek (POL), M-Sport Ford
 Jan Kopecky (CZE), Škoda Motorsport 
 FIA WRC 2
 Ole Chrsitian Veiby (NOR)
 Bruno Magalhães (POR)
  
Sunday 2 JuneWinning 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 ENTRIES, RALLY PORTUGAL 2019
 
Citroën Total WRTSébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (#1)
 Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (#4)
  
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRTThierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (#11)
 Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (#19)
 Dani Sordo / Carlos Del Barrio (#6)
  
M-Sport Ford WRTElfyn Evans / Scott Martin (#33)
 Teemu Suninen / Marko Salminen (#3)
 Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson (#44)
  
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