TOSFED officials have released the official approved entry list for Rally Turkey, round 11 of the 2019 World Rally Championship. The event takes place on September 12th-15th.
Thirty-one cars grace the FIA entry list with 11 World Rally Cars being joined by three crews competing in WRC 2 Pro, a further 13 in the WRC 2 category and four additional European privateer entries – two in R5 cars and two in R2s.
Current WRC leader Ott Tänak is joined by Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke in the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team, while defending World Champion Sébastien Ogier and Esapekka Lappi represent the Citroën Total World Rally Team.
Belgium’s Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo and Andreas Mikkelsen wheel out the three Hyundai Shell Mobis i20 Coupe WRCs, while the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team has entered Ford Fiestas for the usual team pairing of Teemu Suninen and Elfyn Evans and a third car for Sweden’s Pontus Tidemand.
Škoda Motorsport has entered runaway WRC 2 Pro series leader Kalle Rovanperä and Jan Kopecky in their latest Fabia R5 Evos and they face competition from England’s Gus Greensmith who returns to the category to drive his new Ford Fiesta R5 MkII.
A fascinating tussle awaits in the WRC 2 section with Kajetan Kajetanowicz heading the bumper field in the only Volkswagen Polo R5. Currently lying sixth in the points’ standings before the forthcoming Rally Germany, the Pole faces competition from the likes of Fabio Andolfi, Henning Solberg, Diogo Salvi, Marco Bulacia and Paulo Nobre in a quintet of Fabia R5s and new Fiesta R5 MkIIs for Pedro and Gaurav Gill.
There are five Turkish drivers also aiming for WRC 2 glory in three Škodas and a pair of Fords. Burak Çukorova, Deníz Fahri and Bora Manyera drive the Czech machines and Murat Bostanci and Bugra Banaz represent the Blue Oval.
None of the top five in the WRC 2 Championship will make the trip to Marmaris. Mexico’s Benito Guerra currently holds a six-point lead in the series over a tying Pierre-Louis Loubet and Nikolay Gryazin. Ole Christian Veiby and Takamoto Katsuta are fourth and fifth after nine rounds.
Action at Rally Turkey kicks off with a short special stage in Marmaris on Thursday, September 12th.