WRC - Rally Deutschland - Preview

Sport news Round 10 of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews back onto tarmac for Rallye Deutschland (22-25 August), an event known for its demanding roads and often changeable weather conditions.  First run in 1982, it was part of the FIA European Rally Championship before becoming Germany’s round of the WRC in 2002. Although the rally base moved from Trier to Bostalsee two years ago, it has remained faithful to a popular formula combining twisty vineyard roads above the Mosel river, the varied and sometimes broken surfaces of the Baumholder military ground, and fast country lanes of the Saarland region.  Winner of the last two editions, Ott Tänak could target a hat trick to further increase his championship lead, which grew to 22 points after the triumph of the Toyota driver on the last round in Finland. His rivals Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) – who are separated by just three points – are also both former winners of the event, opening up the prospect of a thrilling, flat-out battle between the trio. With Elfyn Evans continuing to recover from a back injury, Gus Greensmith gets another top-level start with M-Sport. After skipping Finland, Rally Sardinia’s winner Dani Sordo returns to the Hyundai line-up alongside Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen. Meanwhile, Toyota offers its Japanese protégé Takamoto Katsuta his first WRC outing in a Yaris - entered by Tommi Mäkinen Racing - after several impressive demonstrations in FIA WRC 2. FIA WRC 2 Pro leader Kalle Rovanperä has four consecutive class wins under his belt but the Finn will face stiff competition in Germany, from his Škoda team-mate and asphalt expert Jan Kopecký, as well as Citroën’s Mads Østberg and Eric Camilli, competing in M-Sport’s latest Ford Fiesta R5.  Fresh from his maiden win in Finland, Russia’s Nikolay Gryazin heads a strong 15-car entry in the FIA WRC 2, which includes the French trio Adrien Fourmaux, Nicolas Ciamin and Stéphane Lefebvre, and the German pair Marijan Griebel and Fabian Kreim. THE 2019 ROUTE This year’s Rallye Deutschland begins with a new twist, as the 5.2 kilometre “St. Wendeler Land” Shakedown is then run again on Thursday evening as the first competitive stage. Friday’s loop consists of a pair of vineyard stages, plus the Wadern-Weikirchen circuit test, with all three run twice. Saturday’s format offers two Saarland country lane stages to be run twice in the morning, ahead of two loops around Baumholder in the afternoon. On Sunday, the rally returns to the vineyards for another pair of repeated stages to conclude the event.  
RALLY DATA  


Total distance:
1'228.23 km


Stage distance:
344.04 km (28%)


Number of stages:
19


MEDIA ACCREDITATION The Accreditation Centre is located in the Media Center in the Bostalsee Service Park (Am Seehafen, D-66625 Nohfelden-Bosen). The opening hours are: 


Tuesday 20 August
14:00 – 18:00 hrs


Wednesday 21 August
08:00 – 21:00 hrs


Thursday 22 August
08:00 – 18:00 hrs


Friday 23 August
08:00 – 14:00 hrs


2019 RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND TIMETABLE & MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA  


Wednesday 21 August
 


Mandatory media safety briefing, Photographers’ Room, Media Center
17:00 hrs


 
 


Thursday 22 August 
 


Mandatory shakedown for P1 & P2P, St Wendeler Land
10:00 - 11:30 hrs


Shakedown for all Priority drivers (P1, P2P, P2, R-GT), St Wendeler Land
11:30 - 13:30 hrs


Shakedown (others), St Wendeler Land
13:30 - 15:30 hrs


‘Meet the Crews’ Top 3 Shakedown, WRC stage, Bostalsee Service Park
14:00 hrs


FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Center, Bostalsee SP
14:30 hrs


Rally opening ceremony, Bostalsee SP
18:00 – 18:30 hrs


including autograph signing session for P1 & P2P crews
 


Start of the rally (section 1), Bostalsee Service SP
18:45 hrs


 
 


Friday 23 August
 


Start of Section 2, Bostalsee SP
09:00 hrs


First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Bostalsee SP
13:33 hrs


First car arrives for regroup, media zone & final service, Bostalsee SP
19:01 hrs


‘Meet the Crews’ post-Leg 1, WRC stage, Bostalsee SP
During the 48’ service


 
 


Saturday 24 August
 


Start of Section 4, Bostalsee SP
07:15 hrs


Regroup, St Wendel
09:59 hrs


First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Bostalsee SP
13:16 hrs


First car arrives for media zone, regroup & final service, Bostalsee SP
17:11 hrs


‘Meet the Crews’ post-Leg 2, WRC stage, Bostalsee SP
During the 48’ service


 
 


Sunday 25 August
 


Start of Section 8, Bostalsee SP
06:20 hrs


Regroup, Morbach
08:41 hrs


Regroup, Morbach
11:05 hrs


Rally finish, Bostalsee SP
13:33 hrs


Podium Ceremony & Price Giving, Bostalsee SP
approx. 14:00 hrs


FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Center, Bostalsee SP
14:45 hrs


FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE  


Thursday 22 August
FIA WRC 


 
Ott Tänak (EST), Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT


 
Sébastien Ogier (FRA), Citroën Total WRT


 
Thierry Neuville (BEL), Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT


 
Gus Greensmith (GBR), M-Sport Ford WRT


 
Takamoto Katsuta (JAP), Tommi Mäkinen Racing


 
FIA WRC 2 PRO 


 
Jan Kopecký (CZE), Škoda Motorsport


 
Mads Østberg (NOR), Citroën Total


 
FIA WRC 2


 
Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL)


 
Marijan Griebel (DEU)


 
 


Sunday 25 August
Winning FIA WRC 2 Pro Championship crew


 
Winning FIA WRC 2 Championship crew


 
Top three crews in the overall classification


 
Representative of the winning manufacturer


2019 RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND, MANUFACTURER ENTRIES  


Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT
Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (#11)


 
Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger-Amland (#89)


 
Dani Sordo / Carlos Del Barrio (#6)


 
 


Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (#8)


 
Kris Meeke / Sebastian Marshall (#5)


 
Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (#10)


 
 


Citroën Total WRT
Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (#1)


 
Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (#4)


 
 


M-Sport Ford WRT
Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen (#3)


 
Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson (#33)


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 World Rally Championship
WRC Rallye Deutschland WRC SEASON 2019 Sport Rallies 1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2019WRCRallye Deutschland01 Friday, August 16, 2019 - 8:31pm Friday, August 16, 2019 - 8:31pm