2019 WRC2 Pro Championship

The 2019 FIA WRC2 Pro Championship was the first and only season of WRC2 Pro, a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the second-highest tier of international rallying. The category was open to cars entered by manufacturers and complying with Group R5 regulations,^[1][2][3] while WRC2 was open to privately entered cars.

2019 FIA WRC2 Pro Championship

Drivers' Champion:
Kalle Rovanperä
Co-drivers' Champion:
Jonne Halttunen
Manufacturers' Champion:
Škoda Motorsport

Previous

2018 (WRC2)

Next

2020 (WRC2)

Parent series:
World Rally Championship
Support series:
WRC2
Junior WRC

Calendar

A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2019 championship. Event headquarters are marked with a black dot.

The championship was contested over fourteen rounds in Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, and Australia.^[2]

Round	Dates		Rally	Rally headquarters	Rally details
	Start	Finish			Surface	Stages	Distance
1	24 January	27 January	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur[a]	Mixed[b]	16[c]	323.83 km
2	14 February	17 February	Rally Sweden	Torsby, Värmland	Snow	19	316.80 km
3	7 March	10 March	Rally Guanajuato México	León, Guanajuato	Gravel	21	316.51 km
4	28 March	31 March	Tour de Corse	Bastia, Corsica	Tarmac	14	347.51 km
5	25 April	28 April	Rally Argentina	Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba	Gravel	18[d]	347.50 km
6	9 May	12 May	Rally Chile	Concepción, Biobío	Gravel	16	304.81 km
7	30 May	2 June	Rally de Portugal	Matosinhos, Porto	Gravel	20[e]	311.47 km
8	13 June	16 June	Rally Italia Sardegna	Alghero, Sardinia	Gravel	19	310.52 km
9	1 August	4 August	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Central Finland	Gravel	23	307.58 km
10	22 August	25 August	ADAC Rallye Deutschland	Bostalsee, Saarland	Tarmac	19	344.04 km
11	12 September	15 September	Rally of Turkey	Marmaris, Muğla	Gravel	17	318.77 km
12	3 October	6 October	Wales Rally GB	Llandudno, Conwy	Gravel	22[f]	312.75 km
13	24 October	27 October	RACC Rally Catalunya de España	Salou, Catalonia	Mixed[g]	17	325.56 km
14	14 November	17 November	Rally Australia	Coffs Harbour, New South Wales	Gravel	Cancelled[h]
Source:[2][5][6]

Calendar expansion

Following the return of Rally Turkey to the championship in 2018, the FIA announced plans to expand the calendar to fourteen rounds in 2019 with the long-term objective of running sixteen championship events. Twelve prospective bids for events were put together,^[7] including candidate events in New Zealand, Japan and Chile.^[8] Prospective events in Kenya, Croatia, Canada and Estonia expressed interest in joining the calendar within five years.^{[9][10][11][12]}

The planned expansion put pressure on European rounds to maintain their position on the calendar as teams were unwilling to contest sixteen events immediately. The Tour de Corse and Rally Italia Sardegna proved to be unpopular among teams for the logistical difficulties of travelling to Corsica and Sardinia and low spectator attendance at the events.^[7][13] Organisers of Rally Japan reached an agreement with the sport's promoter to host a rally in 2019, with the proposed event moving from Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido to Toyota City in Honshu.^[14] However, plans to return to Japan were abandoned when the promoter came under pressure to retain the Tour de Corse.^[15]

The proposed events in Japan and Kenya ran candidate events in 2019 in a bid to join the championship in 2020.^[16][17] Both were successful in secure a place on the 2020 calendar. The calendar published in October 2018 included Rally Chile as part of the expansion to fourteen rounds.^[2] The event was based in Concepción and ran on gravel roads.^[18]

Route changes

The route of Rallye Monte Carlo was shortened by 70.91 km (44.1 mi) compared to the 2018 route.^[19] The route was revised after rule changes that were introduced for the 2019 championship limited the maximum distance of a route to 350 km (217.5 mi).^[2] Organisers of the Tour de Corse announced plans for a new route, with up to three-quarters of the 2019 route being revised from the 2018 rally.^[16] Rally de Portugal was also shortened by 46.72 km (29.0 mi) compared to the 2018 route.^[20]

Entries

Manufacturer	Entrant	Car	Tyre	Crew details
				Driver name	Co-driver name	Rounds
Ford	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta R5	M	Gus Greensmith	Elliott Edmondson	1–2, 5–6, 8
				Łukasz Pieniążek	Kamil Heller	2–4
					Jakub Gerber	7
		Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II		Eric Camilli	Benjamin Veillas	9–10
				Gus Greensmith	Elliott Edmondson	11–13
				Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	12
Škoda	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5	M	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	1–2, 4, 6
				Marco Bulacia[i]	Fabian Cretu[i]	5–6
			P	Eerik Pietarinen	Juhana Raitanen	2
		Škoda Fabia R5 Evo				9
			M	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	7–13
				Jan Kopecký	Pavel Dresler	7–8, 10–11
					Jan Hloušek	12–13
					Michal Ernst	14
Citroën	Citroën Total	Citroën C3 R5	M	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	2, 5–7, 9–10, 12–13
Source:[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]

Crew changes

Škoda Motorsport scaled back their involvement in the championship to a single two-car team. The team retained defending drivers' champion Jan Kopecký and Kalle Rovanperä, while 2017 champions Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson left the team.^[35] Tidemand later joined WRC team M-Sport Ford on a part-time basis,^[36] while Andersson remained in WRC2, partnering Ole Christian Veiby.^[37] M-Sport Ford WRT will also enter two cars, one for Polish driver Łukasz Pieniążek and the other for Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson.^[38] Greensmith will also make his World Rally Car début with M-Sport Ford WRT.^[39] Reigning two-time French Rally champion Yoann Bonato, who competed for privateer Citroën team CHL Sport Auto in 2018, was entered by the factory Citroën team for Monte Carlo, before Citroën withdrew their entry from the rally, leaving Bonato to run as a WRC2 entrant.^[40] After driving for Citroën's WRC team in 2018, Mads Østberg moved to the WRC-2 in 2019, staying with Citroën's factory team in a different C3 R5, in conjunction with DG Sport.^[41] Although not a member of Škoda's factory roster, 2018 Finnish Rally Champion Eerik Pietarinen was nominated to score points for Škoda alongside factory driver Kalle Rovanperä at Rally Sweden. Škoda would repeat this practice with 18-year-old Bolivian driver Marco Bulacia Wilkinson, who is set to participate in the pro-class in the South American double-header in Argentina and Chile, joining Rovanperä on the latter rally.

Results and standings

Season summary

Round	Event	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Winning entrant	Winning time	Report
1	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Gus Greensmith	Elliott Edmondson	M-Sport Ford WRT	3:34:20.5	Report
2	Rally Sweden	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	Citroën Total	2:55:54.5	Report
3	Rally Guanajuato México	Łukasz Pieniążek	Kamil Heller	M-Sport Ford WRT	4:22:31.1	Report
4	Tour de Corse	Łukasz Pieniążek	Kamil Heller	M-Sport Ford WRT	3:52:19.7	Report
5	Rally Argentina	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	Citroën Total	3:35:23.1	Report
6	Rally Chile	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport	3:23:46.3	Report
7	Rally de Portugal	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport	3:30:57.0	Report
8	Rally Italia Sardegna	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport	3:40:51.8	Report
9	Rally Finland	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport	2:38:34.4	Report
10	ADAC Rallye Deutschland	Jan Kopecký	Pavel Dresler	Škoda Motorsport	3:27:24.1	Report
11	Marmaris Rally of Turkey	Gus Greensmith	Elliott Edmondson	M-Sport Ford WRT	4:05:30.8	Report
12	Wales Rally GB	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport	3:11:49.1	Report
13	RACC Rally Catalunya de España	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	Citroën Total	3:16:04.2	Report
14	Rally Australia	Rally cancelled (due to bushfires)				Report[42]

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1

Drivers' standings

Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHI POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points Best 8 1 Kalle Rovanperä 2 2 Ret 1 1 1 1 3 3 1 3 206 176 2 Mads Østberg 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 1 145 145 3 Gus Greensmith 1 3 2 3 4 WD 1 3 4 137 137 4 Jan Kopecký 2 2 1 2 2 2 WD 115 115 5 Łukasz Pieniążek 4 1 1 4 74 74 6 Eric Camilli 2 2 36 36 7 Marco Bulacia Ret 4 12 12 8 Hayden Paddon 4 12 12 9 Eerik Pietarinen Ret Ret 0 0 Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHI POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points Best 8

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

Co-Drivers' standings

Pos. Co-Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHI POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points Best 8 1 Jonne Halttunen 2 2 Ret 1 1 1 1 3 3 1 3 206 176 2 Torstein Eriksen 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 1 145 145 3 Elliott Edmondson 1 3 2 3 4 WD 1 3 4 137 137 4 Pavel Dresler 2 2 1 2 79 79 5 Kamil Heller 4 1 1 62 62 6 Benjamin Veillas 2 2 36 36 7 Jan Hloušek 2 2 36 36 8 Fabian Cretu Ret 4 12 12 9 Jakub Gerber 4 12 12 10 John Kennard 4 12 12 11 Juhana Raitanen Ret Ret 0 0 Pos. Co-Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHI POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points Best 8

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

Manufacturers' standings

Pos. Entrant MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHI POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points 1 Škoda Motorsport 2 2 Ret Ret 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 WD 323 Ret 4 2 2 Ret 3 3 2 3 2 M-Sport Ford WRT 1 3 1 1 2 3 4 4 2 2 1 3 4 259 4 WD WD 4 3 Citroën Total 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 1 145 Pos. Entrant MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHI POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

Footnotes

1. The rally base of the Monte Carlo Rally was located in France.
2. The Monte Carlo Rally was run on a tarmac and snow surface.
3. The third stage of the rally was cancelled on safety grounds when spectator areas became overcrowded.
4. The third stage of the rally was cancelled due to the weather.
5. The 14th and the 15th stage of the rally was cancelled.
6. The 20th stage of the rally was cancelled due to insufficient safety cover.
7. The first leg of Rally Catalunya will run on gravel stages and the second and third legs on tarmac stages.
8. Rally Australia was cancelled due to a bushfire emergency in Northern New South Wales.^[4]
9. The crew of Marco Bulacia Wilkinson and Fabian Cretu was run wholly independently from Škoda Motorsport in Argentina and Chile, but were nominated to score points for them in the Pro class.