# 2019 Rally Australia

The 2019 Rally Australia (also known as Kennards Hire Rally Australia 2019) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was scheduled to be held over four days between 14 and 17 November 2019. The event was cancelled because of an ongoing bushfire emergency in the area. The event was to mark the twenty-eighth running of Rally Australia and was the final round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, WRC-2 Pro class and World Rally Championship-2. The 2019 event would have been based in Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, and contested over twenty-five special stages with a total a competitive distance of 324.53 km (201.65 mi). Rally Australia will not be featured in the 2020 championship.
Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners. Alberto Heller and José Diaz were the defending rally winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but did not participate in the event.
As a result of the rally's cancellation, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT became the manufacturers' champions, while Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais won the divers' and co-drivers' titles respectively in the WRC-2 class.

## Background
### Championship standings prior to the event

Newly crowned champions Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja led the both drivers' and co-drivers' championships with a thirty-six-point ahead of Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul. Defending world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia were third, a further ten points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held an eighteen-point lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT.
In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, newly crowned champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen led by sixty-one points in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen were second, with Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson further eight points behind in third. In the manufacturers' championship, manufacturers' champion Škoda Motorsport led M-Sport Ford WRT by seventy-four points, with Citroën Total over a hundred points behind in third.
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by three points respectively. Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak were second, while Benito Guerra were third in the drivers' standings and Yaroslav Fedorov in the co-drivers' standings.

### Entry list

The following crews were due to entered into the rally. The event was scheduled to open 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 twenty-six entries were received, with twelve crews were scheduled to enter with World Rally Cars and three were scheduled to enter the World Rally Championship-2. This was later reduced to eleven World Rally Cars when Citroën withdrew a planned entry for Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen.
| 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 | Jarmo Lehtinen | 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 |
| 18 | Craig Breen | Paul Nagle | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | M |
| 20 | Hayden Paddon | John Kennard | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Fiesta WRC | M |
| 33 | Elfyn Evans | Scott Martin | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Fiesta WRC | M |
| World Rally Championship-2 entries ||||||
| 41 | Pierre-Louis Loubet | Vincent Landais | Pierre-Louis Loubet | Škoda Fabia R5 | M |
| 42 | Benito Guerra | Daniel Cué | Benito Guerra | Škoda Fabia R5 | M |
| 45 | Gaurav Gill | Glenn Macneall | Gaurav Gill | Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II | M |
| Source: ||||||

### Route

Only five stages from the 2018 event were scheduled to return to the 2019 itinerary. Two of these were due to run in opposite direction to the 2018 rally.

#### Planned itinerary

All dates and times are AEDT (UTC+11).
| Date | Time | No. | Stage name | Distance |
| 14 November | 8:00 | — | Eastbank [Shakedown] | 5.09 km |
| Leg 1 — 125.88 km |||||
| 14 November | 16:30 | SS1 | Destination NSW SSS19 1 | 1.33 km |
| 14 November | 16:40 | SS2 | Destination NSW SSS19 2 | 1.33 km |
| 15 November | 9:00 | SS3 | Coldwater19 1 | 16.78 km |
| 15 November | 9:48 | SS4 | Sherwood 1 | 26.68 km |
| 15 November | 10:51 | SS5 | Kookaburra Rd 1 | 16.82 km |
| 15 November | 13:36 | SS6 | Coldwater19 2 | 16.78 km |
| 15 November | 14:24 | SS7 | Sherwood 2 | 26.68 km |
| 15 November | 15:27 | SS8 | Kookaburra Rd 2 | 16.82 km |
| 15 November | 17:00 | SS9 | Destination NSW SSS19 3 | 1.33 km |
| 15 November | 17:10 | SS10 | Destination NSW SSS19 4 | 1.33 km |
| Leg 2 — 116.99 km |||||
| 16 November | 8:33 | SS11 | Northbank Reverse 1 | 8.00 km |
| 16 November | 9:12 | SS12 | Utungun Reverse 1 | 7.54 km |
| 16 November | 10:08 | SS13 | Argents Hill Reverse 1 | 13.13 km |
| 16 November | 10:51 | SS14 | Welshs Creek Reverse 1 | 28.83 km |
| 16 November | 12:14 | SS15 | Raleigh | 1.99 km |
| 16 November | 15:08 | SS16 | Argents Hill Reverse 2 | 13.13 km |
| 16 November | 16:00 | SS17 | Welshs Creek Reverse 2 | 28.83 km |
| 16 November | 17:13 | SS18 | Northbank Reverse 2 | 8.00 km |
| 16 November | 17:52 | SS19 | Utungun Reverse 2 | 7.54 km |
| Leg 3 — 81.66 km |||||
| 17 November | 7:03 | SS20 | Mount Coramba 1 | 19.05 km |
| 17 November | 7:47 | SS21 | Lower Bucca 1 | 11.47 km |
| 17 November | 8:38 | SS22 | Wedding Bells19 1 | 10.31 km |
| 17 November | 11:06 | SS23 | Mount Coramba 2 | 19.05 km |
| 17 November | 11:50 | SS24 | Lower Bucca 2 | 11.47 km |
| 17 November | 13:08 | SS25 | Wedding Bells19 2 [Power Stage] | 10.31 km |
| Source: |||||

### Bushfire emergency

In the week before the rally, the New South Wales Mid North Coast region was devastated by unprecedented bushfires. Organisers of the rally announced plans to run the event over a shortened route if conditions deteriorated further, while organisers of the Australian Rally Championship — of which Rally Australia was planned to be the final round — cancelled the series' involvement in the rally. A revised itinerary featuring 90 km (55.9 mi) of competitive stages was submitted to the FIA for approval. However, the rally was cancelled eventually.

## Report
### World Rally Cars
#### Championship standings

* Bold text indicates 2019 World Champions.
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Drivers' championships | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Manufacturers' championships | Manufacturers' championships | Manufacturers' championships |
| Pos. | Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points | Move | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | | Ott Tänak | 263 | | Martin Järveoja | 263 | | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 380 |
| 2 | | Thierry Neuville | 227 | | Nicolas Gilsoul | 227 | | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 362 |
| 3 | | Sébastien Ogier | 217 | | Julien Ingrassia | 217 | | Citroën Total WRT | 284 |
| 4 | | Andreas Mikkelsen | 102 | | Anders Jæger-Amland | 102 | | M-Sport Ford WRT | 218 |
| 5 | | Elfyn Evans | 102 | | Scott Martin | 102 | | | |

### World Rally Championship-2 Pro
#### Championship standings

* Bold text indicates 2019 World Champions.
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Drivers' championships | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Manufacturers' championships | Manufacturers' championships | Manufacturers' championships |
| Pos. | Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points | Move | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | | Kalle Rovanperä | 206 | | Jonne Halttunen | 206 | | Škoda Motorsport | 333 |
| 2 | | Mads Østberg | 145 | | Torstein Eriksen | 145 | | M-Sport Ford WRT | 259 |
| 3 | | Gus Greensmith | 137 | | Elliott Edmondson | 137 | | Citroën Total | 145 |
| 4 | | Jan Kopecký | 115 | | Pavel Dresler | 79 | | | |
| 5 | | Łukasz Pieniążek | 74 | | Kamil Heller | 62 | | | |

### World Rally Championship-2
#### Championship standings

* Bold text indicates 2019 World Champions.
| Pos. | Drivers' championships | Drivers' championships | Drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships | Co-drivers' championships |
| Pos. | Move | Driver | Points | Move | Co-driver | Points |
| 1 | | Pierre-Louis Loubet | 91 | | Vincent Landais | 91 |
| 2 | | Kajetan Kajetanowicz | 88 | | Maciej Szczepaniak | 88 |
| 3 | | Benito Guerra | 75 | | Yaroslav Fedorov | 73 |
| 4 | | Nikolay Gryazin | 73 | | Jaime Zapata | 69 |
| 5 | | Fabio Andolfi | 64 | | Jonas Andersson | 62 |