| 2019 Rally Mexico 16. Rally Guanajuato Mexico | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Round 3 of 14 in the2019 World Rally Championship
| |||
 Crews had to face the challenge of Mexico's high-altitude terrain. | |||
| Host country |  Mexico | ||
| Rally base | León,Guanajuato | ||
| Dates run | 7 – 10 March 2019 | ||
| Start location | Street Stage GTO,Guanajuato | ||
| Finish location | Las Minas, Guanajuato | ||
| Stages | 21 (316.51 km; 196.67 miles)[1] | ||
| Stage surface | Gravel | ||
| Transport distance | 689.79 km (428.62 miles) | ||
| Overall distance | 1,006.30 km (625.29 miles) | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Crews registered | 24 | ||
| Crews | 23 at start, 15 at finish | ||
| Overall results | |||
| Overall winner |  Sébastien OgierJulien IngrassiaCitroën Total WRT3:37:08.0 | ||
| Power Stage winner | Sébastien OgierJulien IngrassiaCitroën Total WRT | ||
| Support category results | |||
| WRC-2 winner | Benito GuerraJaime ZapataBenito Guerra 3:52:43.5 | ||
The2019 Rally Mexico (also known as theRally Guanajuato Mexico 2019) was amotor racing event forrally cars that was held over four days between 7 and 10 March 2019.[2] It marked the sixteenth running ofRally Mexico and was the third round of the2019 World Rally Championship,World Rally Championship-2 and the newly createdWRC-2 Pro class. The 2019 event was based in the town ofLeón inGuanajuato and consisted of twenty-onespecial stages. The rally covered a total competitive distance of 316.51 km (196.67 mi).
Reigning World Drivers' and World Co-Drivers ChampionsSébastien Ogier andJulien Ingrassia were the defending rally winners.M-Sport Ford WRT, the team they drove for in 2018, were the defending manufacturers' winners.[3]Pontus Tidemand andJonas Andersson were the defending rally winners ofWRC-2, but they did not participate in the event.[4]
Ogier and Ingrassia successfully defended their titles. Their team,Citroën World Rally Team, were the manufacturers' winners.[5] TheM-Sport Ford WRT crew ofŁukasz Pieniążek andKamil Heller won theWRC-2 Pro category, whileBenito Guerra andJaime Zapata won the wider WRC-2 class, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category.[6]
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Ott Tänak andMartin Järveoja led both the drivers' and co-drivers' championships for the first time in their career, with a seven-point ahead ofThierry Neuville andNicolas Gilsoul. Six-time world championsSébastien Ogier andJulien Ingrassia were third, a further nine points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, defending manufacturers' championsToyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a one-point lead overHyundai Shell Mobis WRT.[7]
In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings,Gus Greensmith andElliott Edmondson held a four-point lead ahead ofKalle Rovanperä andJonne Halttunen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively.Mads Østberg andTorstein Eriksen were third, eleven points further back. In the manufacturers' championship,M-Sport Ford WRT ledŠkoda Motorsport by sixteen points, with eleven-point-behindCitroën Total in third.[8]
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings,Ole Christian Veiby andJonas Andersson led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by fifteen points respectively.Yoann Bonato andBenjamin Boulloud were second, withAdrien Fourmaux andRenaud Jamoul in third in each standings, another eight points behind.[8]
The following crews entered the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, WRC-2 Pro andprivateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. A total of twenty-three entries were received, with ten crews entered with World Rally Cars and five entered the World Rally Championship-2. Only one crew was nominated to score points in the Pro class.
All the stages are located in the state ofGuanajuato.[1] Compared with the2018 edition, the route of the 2019 edition was 27.98 km (17.39 mi) shorter.[10] The Duarte — Derramadero stage was removed. Instead, the Mesa Cuata stage joined the itinerary.[1]
All dates and times areCST (UTC-6).
| Date | Time | No. | Stage name | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 March | 10:00 | — | Llano Grande [Shakedown] | 5.31 km |
| Leg 1 — 115.33 km | ||||
| 7 March | 20:08 | SS1 | Street Stage GTO | 1.14 km |
| 8 March | 10:08 | SS2 | El Chocolate 1 | 31.57 km |
| 11:16 | SS3 | Ortega 1 | 17.28 km | |
| 12:59 | SS4 | Street Stage Léon 1 | 1.11 km | |
| 15:17 | SS5 | El Chocolate 2 | 31.57 km | |
| 16:15 | SS6 | Ortega 2 | 17.28 km | |
| 17:18 | SS7 | Las Minas 1 | 10.72 km | |
| 18:58 | SS8 | V-Power Shell Stage 1 | 2.33 km | |
| 19:03 | SS9 | V-Power Shell Stage 2 | 2.33 km | |
| Leg 2 — 138.37 km | ||||
| 9 March | 8:23 | SS10 | Guanajuatito 1 | 25.90 km |
| 10:06 | SS11 | Otates 1 | 32.27 km | |
| 11:08 | SS12 | El Brinco 1 | 8.13 km | |
| 14:31 | SS13 | Guanajuatito 2 | 25.90 km | |
| 16:29 | SS14 | Otates 2 | 32.27 km | |
| 17:38 | SS15 | El Brinco 2 | 8.13 km | |
| 19:03 | SS16 | V-Power Shell Stage 3 | 2.33 km | |
| 19:08 | SS17 | V-Power Shell Stage 4 | 2.33 km | |
| 19:51 | SS18 | Street Stage Léon 2 | 1.11 km | |
| Leg 3 — 60.17 km | ||||
| 10 March | 9:03 | SS19 | Alfaro | 24.38 km |
| 10:11 | SS20 | Mesa Cuata | 25.07 km | |
| 12:18 | SS21 | Las Minas 2 [Power Stage] | 10.72 km | |
| Source:[1] | ||||
The 2019 edition ofRally Mexico started with a curtailment of the opening stage due to an irreparable damaged jump.[11]Andreas Mikkelsen took a short-lived lead on Friday morning, but the Norwegian lost his lead toSébastien Ogier as they hit a rock and damaged the suspension. TeammateDani Sordo also forced to retire from the day due to electrical issue.Jari-Matti Latvala was running in fourth before retiring withalternator failure. The other major retirement of the first leg wasTeemu Suninen, who went off the road in hisFiesta. The young Finn retired from the rally in the end.[12]
It turned out that Ogier was a lucky man. Despite a front-leftpuncture, he still reduced his time loss to just twenty seconds as his teammateEsapekka Lappi went off the road and caused the red flag, which saved his rally-winning chances.[13] However,Kris Meeke wasn't as fortunate, as he suffered a puncture on the following Otates stage, with damaged suspension, which dropped him from the lead down to fifth place.[14] Eventually, Ogier net his fifth Mexico victory with apower stage victory, surpassedThierry Neuville in the drivers' standings in second, narrowing to four points off the championship leaderOtt Tänak, who finished second overall, withElfyn Evans got his first podium finish of the season.[5]
The rally was not without controversy however. The damaged ramp was met with criticism, deeming it to be unnecessarily dangerous to both drivers and spectators,[15] and allegations of cheating surfaced with Kris Meeke accusing Citroen of abusing red flag rules to give Ogier an unfair advantage;[16] Meeke would later retract his statement in an apology.[17]
| Position | No. | Driver | Co-driver | Entrant | Car | Time | Difference | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Class | Event | Stage | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Sébastien Ogier | Julien Ingrassia | Citroën Total WRT | Citroën C3 WRC | 3:37:08.0 | 0.0 | 25 | 5 |
| 2 | 2 | 8 | Ott Tänak | Martin Järveoja | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota Yaris WRC | 3:37:38.2 | +30.2 | 18 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | 33 | Elfyn Evans | Scott Martin | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Fiesta WRC | 3:37:57.9 | +49.9 | 15 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | 11 | Thierry Neuville | Nicolas Gilsoul | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 3:38:35.0 | +1:27.0 | 12 | 3 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | Kris Meeke | Sebastian Marshall | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota Yaris WRC | 3:43:14.2 | +6:06.2 | 10 | 4 |
| 8 | 6 | 10 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Miikka Anttila | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota Yaris WRC | 3:56:03.9 | +18:55.9 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | 7 | 6 | Dani Sordo | Carlos del Barrio | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 3:59:52.1 | +22:44.1 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | 8 | 4 | Esapekka Lappi | Janne Ferm | Citroën Total WRT | Citroën C3 WRC | 4:40:48.5 | +1:03:40.5 | 0 | 1 |
| Retired SS21 | 89 | Andreas Mikkelsen | Anders Jæger-Amland | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | Withdrawn | 0 | 0 | ||
| Retired SS2 | 3 | Teemu Suninen | Marko Salminen | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Fiesta WRC | Accident | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Manufacturers' championships | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points | Move | Manufacturer | Points | ||||
| 1 |  | Ott Tänak | 65 | | Martin Järveoja | 65 | | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 86 | |||
| 2 |  1 | Sébastien Ogier | 61 | 1 | Julien Ingrassia | 61 | 1 | Citroën Total WRT | 78 | |||
| 3 |  1 | Thierry Neuville | 55 | 1 | Nicolas Gilsoul | 55 | 1 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 77 | |||
| 4 | | Kris Meeke | 35 | | Sebastian Marshall | 35 | | M-Sport Ford WRT | 45 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Elfyn Evans | 28 | 2 | Scott Martin | 28 | ||||||
The only WRC-2 Pro driverŁukasz Pieniążek was unable to complete Friday as he crashed out in SS6.[18] After re-entering the rally, he enjoyed a trouble-free day and eventually won the category.[19][6]
| Position | No. | Driver | Co-driver | Entrant | Car | Time | Difference | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Class | Class | Event | |||||||
| 11 | 1 | 21 | Łukasz Pieniążek | Kamil Heller | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Fiesta R5 | 4:22:31.1 | 0.0 | 25 | 0 |
Results inbold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.
| Date | No. | Stage name | Distance | Winners | Car | Time | Class leaders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 March | — | Llano Grande [Shakedown] | 5.31 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 4:04.8 | N/a |
| SS1 | Street Stage GTO | 1.14 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:06.0 | Pieniążek /Heller | |
| 8 March | SS2 | El Chocolate 1 | 31.57 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 25:33.4 | |
| SS3 | Ortega 1 | 17.28 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 10:27.4 | ||
| SS4 | Street Stage Léon 1 | 1.11 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:12.0 | ||
| SS5 | El Chocolate 2 | 31.57 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 25:19.2 | ||
| SS6 | Ortega 2 | 17.28 km | No stage winner | N/a | No leader[d] | ||
| SS7 | Las Minas 1 | 10.72 km | No stage winner | N/a | |||
| SS8 | V-Power Shell Stage 1 | 2.33 km | No stage winner | N/a | |||
| SS9 | V-Power Shell Stage 2 | 2.33 km | No stage winner | N/a | |||
| 9 March | SS10 | Guanajuatito 1 | 25.90 km | Stage interrupted[e] | |||
| SS11 | Otates 1 | 32.27 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 26:37.5 | Pieniążek /Heller | |
| SS12 | El Brinco 1 | 8.13 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 5:19.0 | ||
| SS13 | Guanajuatito 2 | 25.90 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 19:25.6 | ||
| SS14 | Otates 2 | 32.27 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 26:28.5 | ||
| SS15 | El Brinco 2 | 8.13 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 5:09.2 | ||
| SS16 | V-Power Shell Stage 3 | 2.33 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:47.0 | ||
| SS17 | V-Power Shell Stage 4 | 2.33 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:45.8 | ||
| SS18 | Street Stage Léon 2 | 1.11 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:08.4 | ||
| 10 March | SS19 | Alfaro | 24.38 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 15:06.5 | |
| SS20 | Mesa Cuata | 25.07 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 20:38.5 | ||
| SS21 | Las Minas 2 | 10.72 km | Pieniążek /Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 7:11.7 | ||
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Manufacturers' championships | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points | Move | Manufacturer | Points | ||||
| 1 | | Gus Greensmith | 40 | | Elliott Edmondson | 40 | | M-Sport Ford WRT | 77 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Łukasz Pieniążek | 37 | 2 | Kamil Heller | 37 | | Škoda Motorsport | 36 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Kalle Rovanperä | 36 | 1 | Jonne Halttunen | 36 | | Citroën Total | 25 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Mads Østberg | 25 | 1 | Torstein Eriksen | 25 | ||||||
| 5 | | Eerik Pietarinen | 0 | | Juhana Raitanen | 0 | ||||||
Eighteen-year-old driverMarco Bulacia Wilkinson edgedBenito Guerra in 9.8 seconds. The two dominated the category in twoFabia R5s as they won all eight stages of Friday combined.[18] On the leg 2, Guerra surpassed Wilkinson and ended the day with a lead over three and a half minutes. Heller brothers both failed to finished the day.Alberto Heller retired with broken steering, whilePedro Heller retired with a mechanical issue.[19] They restarted in the final leg, butPedro Heller retired from the rally because of a mechanical issue. The event went into Guerra's pocket in the end, which is his first home victory in his career.[6]
| Position | No. | Driver | Co-driver | Entrant | Car | Time | Difference | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Class | Class | Event | |||||||
| 6 | 1 | 41 | Benito Guerra | Jaime Zapata | Benito Guerra | Škoda Fabia R5 | 3:52:43.5 | 0.0 | 25 | 8 |
| 7 | 2 | 42 | Marco Bulacia Wilkinson | Fabian Cretu | Marco Bulacia Wilkinson | Škoda Fabia R5 | 3:55:59.5 | +3:16.0 | 18 | 6 |
| 13 | 3 | 44 | Alberto Heller | José Díaz | Alberto Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | 4:29:50.2 | +37:06.7 | 15 | 0 |
| Retired SS20 | 43 | Pedro Heller | Pablo Olmos | Pedro Heller | Ford Fiesta R5 | Mechanical | 0 | 0 | ||
Results inbold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.
| Date | No. | Stage name | Distance | Winners | Car | Time | Class leaders | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 March | — | Llano Grande [Shakedown] | 5.31 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 3:59.9 | N/a | |||
| SS1 | Street Stage GTO | 1.14 km | Heller /Díaz | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:05.9 | Heller /Díaz | ||||
| 8 March | SS2 | El Chocolate 1 | 31.57 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 25:12.5 | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | |||
| SS3 | Ortega 1 | 17.28 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 10:16.1 | Guerra /Zapata | ||||
| SS4 | Street Stage Léon 1 | 1.11 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:08.3 | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | ||||
| SS5 | El Chocolate 2 | 31.57 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 24:59.6 | |||||
| SS6 | Ortega 2 | 17.28 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 10:17.6 | |||||
| SS7 | Las Minas 1 | 10.72 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 7:15.3 | |||||
| SS8 | V-Power Shell Stage 1 | 2.33 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:45.6 | |||||
| SS9 | V-Power Shell Stage 2 | 2.33 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:44.3 | |||||
| 9 March | SS10 | Guanajuatito 1 | 25.90 km | Stage interrupted[e] | ||||||
| SS11 | Otates 1 | 32.27 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 26:12.9 | Guerra /Zapata | ||||
| SS12 | El Brinco 1 | 8.13 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 5:02.7 | |||||
| SS13 | Guanajuatito 2 | 25.90 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 18:55.3 | |||||
| SS14 | Otates 2 | 32.27 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 26:11.3 | |||||
| SS15 | El Brinco 2 | 8.13 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 5:02.8 | |||||
| SS16 | V-Power Shell Stage 3 | 2.33 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:45.1 | |||||
| SS17 | V-Power Shell Stage 4 | 2.33 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:44.7 | |||||
| SS18 | Street Stage Léon 2 | 1.11 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:07.4 | |||||
| 10 March | SS19 | Alfaro | 24.38 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 14:56.4 | ||||
| SS20 | Mesa Cuata | 25.07 km | Bulacia Wilkinson /Cretu | Škoda Fabia R5 | 20:23.2 | |||||
| SS21 | Las Minas 2 | 10.72 km | Guerra /Zapata | Škoda Fabia R5 | 7:11.1 | |||||
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points | |||
| 1 | | Ole Christian Veiby | 40 | | Jonas Andersson | 40 | ||
| 2 | | Yoann Bonato | 25 | | Benjamin Boulloud | 25 | ||
| 3 | Benito Guerra | 25 | Jaime Zapata | 25 | ||||
| 4 | 1 | Adrien Fourmaux | 18 | 1 | Renaud Jamoul | 18 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Emil Bergkvist | 18 | 1 | Patrik Barth | 18 | ||
| Previous rally: 2019 Rally Sweden | 2019 FIA World Rally Championship | Next rally: 2019 Tour de Corse |
| Previous rally: 2018 Rally Mexico | 2019 Rally Mexico | Next rally: 2020 Rally Mexico |
