Chris Ingram is the European Rally Champion without winning a single event

Chris Ingram is the FIA European Rally Champion for 2019, becoming the first British driver to win ERC title since 1967. The 25-year-old driver of the #1 Škoda Fabia R5 clinched a title after finishing fourth at Rally Hungary, beating the defending champion Alexey Lukyanuk in the #3 Citroen C3 R5 by nine points (141:132).

Lukyanuk finished second after he lost more than three and a half minutes on the last stage, stopping to change a punctured tire. Due to his misfortune, the rally winner is Hungarian driver Frigyes Turan in the #11 Škoda Fabia R5.

Ingram also suffered a puncture on the last stage but he didn’t stop, dropping from P3 to P4 in the overall classification. The young Irishman Callum Devine (#15 Hyundai i20 R5) finished third in Hungary.

Rally winner Frigyes Turan

Frigyes Turan is the eighth different winner in eight ERC rallies in 2019. It’s interesting that Ingram clinched a title without winning a single event.

The winners over the season were Lukasz Habaj (Azores), Pepe Lopez (Canary). Oliver Solberg (Liepaja), Alexey Lukyanuk (Poland), Giandomenico Basso (Roma), Jan Kopecky (Barum Czech Rally Zlin) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Cyprus).

New European champion Chris Ingram

Photos: FIA ERC/DPPI/Gregory Lenormand, Thomas Fenetre,