2019 Rally de Portugal 53. Vodafone Rally de Portugal
Round 7 of 14 in the2019 World Rally Championship ← Previous event Next event →
Rocks and deep ruts are the features of the rally.
Host country	Portugal
Rally base	Matosinhos,Porto
Dates run	30 May – 2 June 2019
Start location	Lousã,Coimbra
Finish location	Fafe,Braga
Stages	20 (311.47 km; 193.54 miles)[1]
Stage surface	Gravel
Transport distance	1,429.19 km (888.06 miles)
Overall distance	1,117.96 km (694.67 miles)
Statistics
Crews registered	61
Crews	60 at start, 33 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 3:20:22.8
Power Stage winner	Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën Total WRT
Support category results
WRC-2 winner	Pierre-Louis Loubet Vincent Landais Pierre-Louis Loubet 3:33:09.1

The2019 Rally de Portugal (also known as theVodafone Rally de Portugal 2019) was amotor racing event forrally cars that was held over four days between 30 May and 2 June 2019.^[2] It marked the fifty-third running ofRally de Portugal, and was the seventh round of the2019 World Rally Championship,World Rally Championship-2 and the newly createdWRC-2 Pro class. The rally was also part of the Portuguese national championship and Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica. The 2019 event was based inMatosinhos inPorto and consisted of twentyspecial stages totalling 311.47 km (193.54 mi) competitive kilometres.

Thierry Neuville andNicolas Gilsoul were the defending rally winners. Their team,Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the manufacturers' winners.^[3]Pontus Tidemand andJonas Andersson were the defending winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they did not participate in the rally.^[4] The Swedish crewDenis Rådström andJohan Johansson were the reigningWorld Rally Championship-3 winners, but they did not defend their titles as the category was discontinued in 2019.^[5]

Ott Tänak andMartin Järveoja won theRally de Portugal for the first time in their career. Their team,Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the manufacturers' winners.^[6] TheŠkoda Motorsport crew ofKalle Rovanperä andJonne Halttunen took the back-to-back victory in theWRC-2 Pro category, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category, while the French crew ofPierre-Louis Loubet andVincent Landais won the wider WRC-2 class.^[7]

Defending world championsSébastien Ogier andJulien Ingrassia led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships with a ten-point lead overOtt Tänak andMartin Järveoja.Thierry Neuville andNicolas Gilsoul were third, a further two points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers,Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held a twenty-nine-point lead overToyota Gazoo Racing WRT.^[8]

In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings,Gus Greensmith andElliott Edmondson held a five-point lead ahead ofMads Østberg andTorstein Eriksen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively.Łukasz Pieniążek andKamil Heller were third, six points further back. In the manufacturers' championship,M-Sport Ford WRT ledŠkoda Motorsport by sixty-two points, withCitroën Total fifteen points further behind in third.^[9]

In the World Rally Championship-2 standings,Benito Guerra andJaime Zapata led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by fourteen points respectively.Takamoto Katsuta andDaniel Barritt were second, following byOle Christian Veiby andJonas Andersson in third.^[9]

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, Portuguese national championship, Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica andprivateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of sixty-one entries were received, with twelve crews entered with World Rally Cars and twenty-seven entered the World Rally Championship-2. Four 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	M
3	Teemu Suninen	Marko Salminen	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
4	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	Citroën Total WRT	Citroën C3 WRC	M
5	Kris Meeke	Sebastian Marshall	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
6	Dani Sordo	Carlos del Barrio	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
8	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
10	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
11	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
19	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
33	Elfyn Evans	Scott Martin	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
44	Gus Greensmith	Elliott Edmondson	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
World Rally Championship-2 Pro entries
21	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	Citroën Total[a]	Citroën C3 R5	M
22	Łukasz Pieniążek	Jakub Gerber	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta R5	M
23	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	M
24	Jan Kopecký	Pavel Dresler	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	M
World Rally Championship-2 entries
41	Benito Guerra	Jaime Zapata	Benito Guerra[b]	Škoda Fabia R5	M
42	Takamoto Katsuta	Daniel Barritt	Takamoto Katsuta[c]	Ford Fiesta R5	P
43	Ole Christian Veiby	Jonas Andersson	Ole Christian Veiby[d]	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	M
45	Nikolay Gryazin	Yaroslav Fedorov	Nikolay Gryazin[e]	Škoda Fabia R5	M
46	Alberto Heller	José Díaz	Alberto Heller	Ford Fiesta R5	M
47	Emil Bergkvist	Patrik Barth	Emil Bergkvist	Ford Fiesta R5	P
48	Guillaume De Mevius	Martijn Wydaeghe	Guillaume De Mevius[f]	Citroën C3 R5	M
49	Henning Solberg	Ilka Minor-Petrasko	Henning Solberg[g]	Škoda Fabia R5	M
50	"Pedro"[h]	Emanuele Baldaccini	"Pedro"	Ford Fiesta R5	P
51	Pierre-Louis Loubet	Vincent Landais	Pierre-Louis Loubet[i]	Škoda Fabia R5	M
52	Ricardo Teodósio	José Teixeira	Ricardo Teodósio	Škoda Fabia R5	M
53	Simone Tempestini	Sergiu Itu	Simone Tempestini[j]	Hyundai i20 R5	P
54	Miguel Barbosa	Jorge Carvalho	Miguel Barbosa[k]	Škoda Fabia R5	P
55	Armindo Araújo	Luís Ramalho	Armindo Araújo[l]	Hyundai i20 R5	M
56	Eerik Pietarinen	Juhana Raitanen	Eerik Pietarinen[m]	Škoda Fabia R5	P
57	José Pedro Fontes	Inês Ponte	José Pedro Fontes[n]	Citroën C3 R5	P
58	Jari Huttunen	Antti Linnaketo	Jari Huttunen[j]	Hyundai i20 R5	P
59	Bruno Magalhães	Hugo Magalhães	Bruno Magalhães[l]	Hyundai i20 R5	M
60	Pedro Meireles	Mário Castro	Pedro Meireles[o]	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	M
61	Pedro Almeida	Nuno Almeida	Pedro Almeida	Škoda Fabia R5	M
62	António Dias	Nuno Rodrigues da Silva	António Dias	Škoda Fabia R5	M
63	Diogo Salvi	Paulo Babo	Diogo Salvi	Škoda Fabia R5	M
64	Rhys Yates	James Morgan	Rhys Yates	Škoda Fabia R5	P
Source:[10]

The 2019 route cut 46.72 km (29.0 mi) from the 2018 itinerary to meet the regulation of the 350 km (217.5 mi) maximum total distance.^[11][12][1]

All dates and times areWEST (UTC+1).

Hyundai Motorsport had initially planned to enterAndreas Mikkelsen for the rally but he was dropped in favour ofSébastien Loeb, due to Mikkelsen's inconsistent form on gravel.^[13] However, Loeb's rally was conceded almost sixteen minutes as hisfuel system failed. So was his teammateDani Sordo, who grabbed an early lead until the similar issue happened to him.^[14] FollowingHyundai's double disasters,Toyota managed to end the day with an 1-2-3.^[15]Teemu Suninen was the only driver can matchYaris' pace, but abrake failure pushed the Finn down to sixth. TeammateElfyn Evans hit trouble as well. The Welshman lost almost four minutes when hisFiesta stopped with an electrical problem, which raised heavy dust when went back on the road. The dust affected greatly onEsapekka Lappi, who suffered apuncture early before, but the time he loss was later credited back to him.

On day two, rally leaderOtt Tänak hit adamper issue and slashed his lead to just 4.3 seconds. TeammateJari-Matti Latvala suffered the same problem, but he was unable to finish the rally, so Rally2 for the Finn. A double dose of tactics byThierry Neuville'sHyundai team boosted him to third, less than ten seconds off the lead.Gus Greensmith had to retire from the day as he crashed hisFiesta into a ditch.^[16]

Eventually, Tänak secured a back-to-back victory, while the final day saw four major retirements.^[6]Esapekka Lappi was running fifth until he hit a bank and broke the rear leftsuspension.^[17]Kris Meeke spun out second place to his rival before he retired as he crashed into a tree.Gus Greensmith'sWRC debut ended up with a crash in the finalFafe stage.Sébastien Loeb was another late casualty, retiring hisi20 after hitting a bank in the same stage despite the fact that he had crossed the finishing line.

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships				Manufacturers' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points		Move	Manufacturer	Points
1			Sébastien Ogier	142			Julien Ingrassia	142			Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	202
2			Ott Tänak	140			Martin Järveoja	140			Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	182
3			Thierry Neuville	132			Nicolas Gilsoul	132			Citroën Total WRT	158
4		1	Elfyn Evans	65		1	Scott Martin	65			M-Sport Ford WRT	122
5		1	Kris Meeke	56		1	Sebastian Marshall	56

Škoda Motorsport débuted a new-generation Fabia R5, the Škoda Fabia R5 Evo, driven by driversJan Kopecký andKalle Rovanperä. Rovanperä led the category comfortably until apuncture lost his lead to Kopecký.Mads Østberg was unable to finish the leg as he suffered several issues includingbrake problems, damagedsuspension andpuncture.^[19] In leg two, Rovanperä recaptured the lead as theŠkoda Fabia R5 Evo'sbonnet of Kopecký broke free from its fastenings after a heavy landing from a jump.Lukasz Pieniazek crashed into a tree and forced to retire from the day.^[20] In the end, Rovanperä claimed the victory as well as moving up to the top of the class standings.^[7]

Results inbold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships				Manufacturers' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points		Move	Manufacturer	Points
1		2	Kalle Rovanperä	86		2	Jonne Halttunen	86			M-Sport Ford WRT	147
2			Mads Østberg	83			Torstein Eriksen	83			Škoda Motorsport	116
3			Łukasz Pieniążek	74		1	Elliott Edmondson	73			Citroën Total	83
4		2	Gus Greensmith	73		1	Kamil Heller	62
5			Jan Kopecký	18			Pavel Dresler	18

Ole Christian Veiby ledNikolay Gryazin by 25.2 seconds.^[19]Rhys Yates retired due to doublepunctures, whileJari Huttunen stopped withsuspension damage. Local driverPedro Meireles retired from the rally as hisPolo R5 caught fire. Day two was full of dramas. Overnight leader Veiby's rally ended up with car on fire, which handled the lead toTakamoto Katsuta, who also retired from the day due to crashing. Other retirements includedJari Huttunen, who crashed hisHyundai i20 R5, and local driverDiogo Salvi.Eerik Pietarainen damaged hisFabia'ssuspension, which dropped him from second to fourth in the class standings.^[20] Following so many dramas,Pierre-Louis Loubet snatched the victory.^[7]

Results inbold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.

Pos.		Drivers' championships				Co-drivers' championships
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Co-driver	Points
1			Benito Guerra	69			Jaime Zapata	69
2			Takamoto Katsuta	47			Daniel Barritt	47
3			Ole Christian Veiby	40			Jonas Andersson	40
4			Nikolay Gryazin	38			Yaroslav Fedorov	38
5			Alberto Heller	33			José Díaz	33

Wikimedia Commons has media related to2019 Rally de Portugal.

• Official website(in Portuguese and English)
• 2019Rally de Portugal ine-wrc website
• Theofficial website of theWorld Rally Championship

• 2019 World Rally Championship season
• 2019 in Portuguese motorsport
• May 2019 sports events in Portugal
• June 2019 sports events in Portugal
• Rally de Portugal

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Official website not in Wikidata
• Articles with Portuguese-language sources (pt)