2009 Rally Australia Explained

2009 Rally Australia
Native Name:20th Repco Rally Australia
Championship:2009 World Rally Championship
Round:10
Previous Round:2009 Rally Finland
Next Round:2009 Rally Catalunya
Country: Australia
Rallybase:Kingscliff
Startdate:3
Enddate:6 September 2009
Stages:35
Surface:Gravel
Driver1: Mikko Hirvonen
Team1: BP Ford WRT
Teamsstart:40
Teamsfinish:25

The 2009 Repco Rally Australia was the 20th Rally Australia and the tenth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 35 special stages and was won on the road by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb. However, Loeb's win was short-lived as his Citroën along with those of his teammate Dani Sordo, and Sébastien Ogier were given one-minute time penalties for irregularities with their cars' anti-rollbars. Ford's Mikko Hirvonen inherited the win, for his fourth win in succession.

Entries

The final entry list included 40 crews. 10 drivers contested in the World Rally Car class and 14 contested in the Production World Rally Championship class. This was the first time in the season that Petter Solberg and co-driver Phil Mills did not compete in their privately entered Citroën Xsara WRC since Rally Ireland.

Protests

The event was disrupted by environmental activists protesting against the running of the rally, claiming that the event threatened local wildlife. One week before the rally, protesters unsuccessfully filed an injunction against the event in an effort to stop it. During the rally itself, signs were placed around the route of the rally, telling the drivers and those involved in the rally to go home.[1] The CTEK East stages, scheduled to be held on 4 September as the sixth and eleventh stages of the rally, were cancelled after rocks were thrown at the course car and the stage itself was blocked when protesters pulled a fence across the road.[2] Early reports also emerged claiming that protesters had taken animals killed on local roads and placed them along the rally route to give the appearance that wildlife had been killed by rally cars, though these reports were later denied. Following the cancellation of the CTEK East stages, New South Wales police announced that they would prosecute those responsible as public nuisances.

Results

Pos.DriverCo-driverCarTimePenaltyDifferencePoints
WRC
1 Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo LehtinenFord Focus RS WRC 092:53:06.50.010
2 Sébastien Loeb Daniel ElenaCitroën C4 WRC2:53:54.01:00+47.58
3 Dani Sordo Marc MartíCitroën C4 WRC2:54:11.11:00+1:04.66
4 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka AnttilaFord Focus RS WRC 092:54:58.5+1:52.05
5 Sébastien Ogier Julien IngrassiaCitroën C4 WRC2:55:29.81:00+2:23.34
6 Matthew Wilson Scott MartinFord Focus RS WRC 082:58:32.8+5:26.33
7 Henning Solberg Cato MenkerudFord Focus RS WRC 083:00:24.30:20+7:17.82
8 Federico Villagra Jorge Pérez CompancFord Focus RS WRC 083:00:45.9+7:39.41
PWRC and class N4
1 Hayden Paddon John KennardMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX3:08:42.60.0-
2 Martin Prokop Jan TománekMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX3:08:51.2+8.610
3 Richard Mason Sara MasonSubaru Impreza WRX STi3:09:33.4+50.88
4 Cody Crocker Ben AtkinsonSubaru Impreza WRX STi3:10:26.5+1:43.96
5 Armindo Araújo Miguel RamalhoMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX3:12:59.3+4:16.75
6 Stewart Taylor Warwick SearleMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX3:14:30.3+5:47.74
7 John Gouasdoue Scott BeckwithMitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI3:60:41.87:20+21:59.2-
8 Stephen Tonna Lorell TonnaMitsubishi Lancer Evolution V3:60:41.82:00+21:59.2-
9 Gianluca Linari Massimo SalvucciSubaru Impreza WRX STi3:38:52.8+30:01.63

Special stages

DayStageTime (AEST)NameLengthWinnerTimeRally leader
1
(3-4 Sep)		SS118:53Tweed 12.55 km Sébastien Ogier1:49.0 Sébastien Ogier
SS219:08Tweed 22.55 km Sébastien Ogier1:46.1
SS37:38Kyogle 17.32 km Jari-Matti Latvala4:05.5
SS48:36Repco 122.41 km Mikko Hirvonen10:27.3 Jari-Matti Latvala
SS59:24Kyogle 27.32 km Dani Sordo3:59.1
SS610:37CTEK East 111.33 kmstage cancelled
SS711:40Mooball 15.85 km Jari-Matti Latvala4:41.7
SS811:58Kidney Health 15.74 km Jari-Matti Latvala4:29.4
SS912:16Castrol Edge 16.85 km Sébastien Ogier4:38.9
SS1014:03Castrol Edge East 26.85 km Jari-Matti Latvala4:29.3
SS1115:03CTEK East 211.33 kmstage cancelled
SS1216:06Mooball 25.85 km Jari-Matti Latvala4:36.7
SS1316:24Kidney Health 25.74 km Jari-Matti Latvala4:26.0
SS1418:30Tweed 32.55 km Sébastien Ogier1:48.1
SS1518:45Tweed 42.55 km Sébastien Ogier1:46.8
2
(5 Sep)		SS167:28Dayco 120.31 km Mikko Hirvonen9:45.1
SS178:13Bosch 118.75 km Sébastien Loeb9:26.3
SS189:04Armor All 18.2 km Sébastien Loeb3:47.2
SS1910:42Urliup5.24 km Mikko Hirvonen4:25.7
SS2013:55Armor All 28.2 km3:42.8
SS2114:34CTEK West 18.59 km4:28.3
SS2215:27Dayco 220.31 km9:38.3
SS2316:12Bosch 218.75 km9:30.6 Mikko Hirvonen
SS2419:15Tweed 52.55 km1:47.4
SS2519:30Tweed 62.55 km1:46.2 Dani Sordo
3
(6 Sep)		SS267:14Monroe 17.4 km Sébastien Loeb3:25.8 Sébastien Loeb
SS277:36Castrol Edge West 121.52 km Dani Sordo10:01.9
SS288:37Gondwana 110.88 km Mikko Hirvonen6:19.0
SS298:56Upper Clarence 16.94 km Jari-Matti Latvala3:14.6
SS309:40CTEK West 28.59 km Sébastien Loeb4:27.5
SS3111:03Monroe 27.4 km Sébastien Loeb3:21.1
SS3211:25Castrol Edge West 221.52 km Dani Sordo9:46.9
SS3312:26Gondwana 210.88 km Sébastien Loeb6:09.1
SS3412:45Upper Clarence 26.94 km Jari-Matti Latvala
Sébastien Ogier		3:12.2
SS3513:27Repco 222.41 km Mikko Hirvonen10:14.4 Mikko Hirvonen

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

PosDriverIRL
NOR
CYP
POR
ARG
ITA
GRC
POL
FIN
AUS
ESP
GBR
 Pts 
1 Mikko Hirvonen3222Ret2111178
2 Sébastien Loeb111114Ret72273
3 Dani Sordo25432231224350
4 Jari-Matti Latvala14312Ret613Ret3436
5 Henning Solberg441853815330729
6 Petter Solberg634Ret3Ret4Ret25
7 Matthew Wilson775Ret561458623
8 Sébastien Ogier610Ret177Ret2Ret6520
9 Federico Villagra774Ret411815
10 Conrad Rautenbach18Ret6RetRet958RetRet8
11 Mads Østberg9677RetRet7
12 Khalid al-Qassimi8881669196
13 Evgeny Novikov12RetRet5169Ret4
14 Chris Atkinson54
15 Matti Rantanen54
16 Krzysztof Hołowczyc63
17 Jari Ketomaa72
18 Nasser Al-Attiyah1116810EX1
19 Urmo Aava108291
20 Lambros Athanassoulas81
PosDriverIRL
NOR
CYP
POR
ARG
ITA
GRC
POL
FIN
AUS
ESP
GBR
Pts

Manufacturers' championship

PosTeamEventTotal
points
IRL
NOR
CYP
POR
ARG
ITA
GRC
POL
FIN
AUS
ESP
GBR
1 Citroën Total World Rally Team18 14 16 16 18 8 4 12 13 14 133
2 BP Ford World Rally Team8 14 10 8 3 18 18 10 16 15 120
3 Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team8 8 6 5 10 7 5 11 4 5 69
4 Citroën Junior Team5 2 4 0 2 5 6 5 4 4 37
5 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team0 0 3 4 5 0 6 0 2 1 21

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Loeb defends rally amid protests . David . Evans. Autosport. September 4, 2009.
  2. News: Police warn of action on protests . Autosport . David . Evans . September 4, 2009.

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