Chile’s first ever FIA WRC event follows on quickly from the previous round in the neighbouring country of Argentina, and although the rally will also be held on gravel, crews expect to discover very different characteristics after crossing the Andes.

Based in the harbour city of Concepción, Rally Chile will feature stages taking place mostly in the surrounding forests, along with some more open sections that have with views of the Pacific Ocean. The roads are expected to be compact and fairly smooth compared to the Argentinian round, as well as cambered in places. Teams will go into the rally with no opportunity for a pre-event test in Chile, and will prepare their pace-notes from a blank sheet of paper during the recce at the beginning of next week.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville arrives in Chile as the championship leader, and will battle it out to claim his third win in a row after the Tour de Corse and Argentina. His advantage over Citroën’s Sébastien Ogier is just 10 points, while Toyota’s Ott Tänak, a further 18 points behind, is looking to fight back. After missing Argentina, Sébastien Loeb returns to take on the new event in Chile, replacing Dani Sordo in the Hyundai line-up.

Four drivers will compete in the FIA WRC 2 Pro class in Chile, with Great Britain’s Gus Greensmith (M-Sport), Norway’s Mads Østberg (Citroën), Bolivia’s youngster Marco Bulacia Wilkinson (Škoda) and Finland’s talent Kalle Rövanpera (Škoda). The FIA WRC 2 class has a strong local contingent, led by Chile’s series regulars Pedro and Alberto Heller, the former winner on Rally Argentina, joined by eight-time national champion Jorge Martínez and Francisco “Chaleco” López, most known for his achievements in Rally Dakar.

 

THE 2019 ROUTE

Rally Chile will begin with a ceremonial start in Concepción’s Plaza de la Independenzia on Thursday evening, where thousands of fans are expected for a colourful celebration, before the action gets underway on Friday with two loops of forest stages in the south. The loop includes the longest stage of the rally, the 30.72-kilometre El Puma test, described as the ‘Ouninpohja of Chile’, in reference to Finland’s classic stage. The technically complicated but fast, cambered roads will be a real challenge for the crews. The city will then get its first taste of competitive WRC action with an evening street stage. Saturday has another loop of three stages run twice, this time closer to the city. There are four more stages to close the rally on Sunday: the day begins and ends with the Biobío stage, named after the country’s second biggest waterway closeby, with its second pass as the Power Stage.

 

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The Accreditation Centre is located in the Media Center in Puerto Marina Convention Center (Avenida Ifarle Oriente 6701, Talcahuano, Chile)

The opening hours are:

Tuesday 7 May 14:00 – 20:00 hrs Wednesday 8 May 09:00 – 20:00 hrs Thursday 9 May 08:00 – 20:00 hrs Friday 10 May 06:30 – 14:00 hrs

 

2019 RALLY CHILE TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

Wednesday 8 May   Mandatory media safety briefing, Photographers’ Room, Media Center 17:00 hrs     Thursday 9 May   Mandatory shakedown (P1 & P2P), Pinares area 10:00 – 11:30 hrs Optional shakedown (All priority P1, P2P, P2), Pinares area 11:30 – 13:00 hrs Shakedown (others), Pinares area 13:00 – 14:00 hrs ‘Meet the Crews’ Top 3 Shakedown, COPEC truck, Talcahuano SP 14:00 hrs FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Center at Puerta Marina 14:20 hrs Photo-shoot for P1 crews, Plaza de la Independencia 18:20 Autograph session with P1 crews, Plaza de la Independencia 18:30 Autograph session with P2P & P2 crews, Plaza de la Independencia 18:50 Ceremonial start, Plaza de la Independencia 19:00     Friday 10 May   Start of the rally (section 1) 06:30 hrs First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Talcahuano SP 12:26 hrs First car arrives for media zone, regroup & final service, Talcahuano SP 19:05 hrs ‘Meet the Crews’ post-Leg 1, COPEC Truck, Talcahuano SP During the 45’ service     Saturday 11 May   First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Talcahuano SP 11:35 hrs First car arrives for media zone, regroup & final service, Talcahuano SP 17:35 hrs ‘Meet the Crews’ post-Leg 2, COPEC Truck, Talcahuano SP During the 45’ service     Sunday 12 May   Regroup before Power Stage, Concepción Teatro Regional 11:17 hrs Podium Ceremony & Price Giving, Plaza de la Independencia 14:30 hrs FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Media Center at Puerto Marina 16:00 hrs

 

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

Thursday 9 May FIA WRC   Sébastien Ogier (FRA), Citroën Total World Rally Team   Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR), Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team   Jari-Mati Latvala (FIN), Toyota Gazoo Rally Team   Teemu Suninen (FIN), M-Sport Ford World Rally Team   FIA WRC 2 PRO    Mads Ostberg (NOR), Citroën Total   Marco Bulacia (BOL), Škoda Rally Team   FIA WRC 2   Jorge Martínez (CHL)   Francisco López (CHL)     Sunday 12 May 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

 

MANUFACTURER WRC ENTRIES, 2019 WRC RALLY CHILE

Citroën Total WRT Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (#1)   Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (#4)     Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (#11)   Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jæger-Amland (#89)   Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena (#19)     M-Sport Ford WRT Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (#33)   Teemu Suninen / Marko Salminen (#3)     Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Ott 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