Motor rally competition
The 1999 China Rally (officially 555 China Rally) took place from 17 September to 19 September 1999. It was the 11th of 14 races of the 316th World Rally Championship (WRC).
Overview.
The 1999 China Rally was the 3rd edition of the rally, the surface was gravel, the road section distance was 1,037.66 km and the total distance was 1,357.24 km. There were 71 entries, 67 starters and 25 finishers, which was 37.3% of the starters.
The rally is the only WRC Rally to be held in China, with the other China Rallies held in other years being APRC events. Ford’s Colin McRae was the pre-tournament favourite to win the rally, having won the first two events in 1997 and 1998.
The winner was Didier Auriol on the 19th win and 47th podium, driving a Toyota Corolla WRC. He and his French crew were dominamt in the third and final leg, and set fastest times in five of the six stages, claiming the win with almost a minute gap over Subaru's Richard Burns. The third position was also claimed by a Toyota team, consisting of Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya.
In the final day of the rally, the Hyundai World Rally Team marked their most achievements of the rally, scoring its third one/two victory of the year in the FIA 2-litre World Cup for Manufacturers. Then, it marked the first time the team has scored a top ten overall position and finally Hyundai won the 2-litre manufacturers class of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and the drivers' championship. There were 22 stages, with the shortest being 7.00 km (SS4 Tou Dao Xue 1), the longest being 33.07 km (SS6 Zhung Hu Gou Men 2), slowest being 63.21 km/h (SS4 Tou Dao Xue 1) and the fastest being 124.13 km/h (SS13 Si Dao Dian 2). There were 26 penalties in total.
Background.
Itinerary.
All dates and times are CST () and the total distance was 385.12km.
References.
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