Rally Chile joins 2019 WRC calendar

The 2019 World Rally Championship calendar has been officially revealed with the all-new Rally Chile event joining the 14-round campaign following the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris.

All 13 rounds from the 2018 calendar have been retained, including the questioned Corsica event, while a third South American round in Chile has been added.

The gravel Chilean event will act as the second part of a double-header following Rally Argentina and marks the longest WRC calendar since 2008.

The 2019 WRC calendar starts at its traditional season-opener Rally Monte Carlo on the last weekend of January before heading to Sweden three weeks later.

Rallies in Germany, Great Britain, Spain and Australia remain subject to date confirmation.

Full 2019 World Rally Championship calendar:

27 January Rally Monte Carlo

17 February Rally Sweden

10 March Rally Mexico

31 March Rally France

28 April Rally Argentina

12 May Rally Chile

2 June Rally Portugal

16 June Rally Italy

4 August Rally Finland

25 August Rally Germany*

15 September Rally Turkey

6 October Rally Great Britain*

27 October Rally Spain*

17 November Rally Australia*

*Date subject to confirmation

2019 changes see premier class drivers allowed to pick permanent numbers apart from the exception of #1 which is reserved for the reigning WRC champion.

The number of permitted test days has also been cut from 55 to 42 for WRC manufacturer teams with the total distance of special stages reduced from a maximum of 500km to a maximum of 350km as a cost-saving method.