2009 World Rally Championship Explained

The 2009 World Rally Championship was the 37th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of twelve rallies and began on 30 January, with Rally Ireland and ended with Rally GB on 25 October. Sébastien Loeb won the World Drivers' championship at Rally GB by one point from Mikko Hirvonen, taking his sixth consecutive crown.^[1] Citroën secured their fifth Manufacturers' title, Martin Prokop won the JWRC Drivers' championship and Armindo Araujo won the PWRC Drivers' championship.

Regulation changes

The number of mechanics available per car has been dropped from 12 to 8.^[2]

Calendar

The 2009 championship was contested over twelve rounds in Europe, South America and Oceania.

The 2009 season included twelve rallies, which was three fewer than the 2008 season, because the FIA imposed a "Round Rotation" System in order to attract candidate rallies to have a chance to be a WRC event. Monte Carlo, Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, Germany, New Zealand, France and Japan were dropped from the calendar for 2009, but will return at the 2010 WRC Season. Ireland, Norway, Cyprus, Portugal, Poland and Australia returned to the 2009 season.^[3]

The eight events also part of the Production World Rally Championship were Norway, Cyprus, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, Greece, Australia and Rally GB. The eight rallies also on the Junior World Rally Championship schedule were Ireland, Cyprus, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, Poland, Finland and Spain.

Round	Dates	Rally Name	Rally HQ	nowrap	Support Category	Surface
1	nowrap	30 January – 1 February			JWRC	Wintry asphalt
2	12–15 February			PWRC	nowrap	Ice and snow-covered gravel
3	13–15 March			nowrap	JWRC/PWRC	Asphalt and gravel
4	3–5 April			JWRC/PWRC	Gravel
5	24–26 April		nowrap		JWRC/PWRC	Gravel
6	22–24 May	nowrap			JWRC/PWRC	Gravel
7	12–14 June			PWRC	Gravel
8	26–28 June			JWRC	Gravel
9	31 July – 2 August			JWRC	Gravel
10	nowrap	4–6 September		nowrap		PWRC	Gravel
11	2–4 October			JWRC	Asphalt
12	23–25 October			PWRC	Gravel

Teams and drivers

In 2009 two categories are eligible to compete for the Manufacturer's championship:

Manufacturer (M)

• must take part in all the rallies of the Championship with two cars of the same make
• must enter only cars corresponding to the latest homologated version of a World Rally Car in conformity with the 2009 Appendix J
• must inform the FIA of the name of the first driver entered for the season at the time of registration for the Championship. No change of the first driver is authorised, except in a case of force majeure. The driver of the second car may be changed for each of the rallies in the Championship

Manufacturer Team (MT)

• must take part in a minimum of 8 Championship rallies with one or two cars; those rallies must be nominated on registering for the Championship
• cannot enter World Rally Cars homologated during the year 2009 and cannot use parts homologated after 2 January 2009
• can only score points in the events it nominated on registering.

The registered Manufacturers are Citroën Total World Rally Team and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team; the registered Manufacturer Teams are Stobart VK M-Sport Ford, Munchi's Ford and Citroën Junior Team. Suzuki and Subaru pulled out of the WRC at the end of the 2008 championship, both citing the economic downturn then affecting the automotive industry for their withdrawal.

Manufacturers
Team	Manufacturer	Car	Tyre	No	Drivers	Co-drivers	Rounds
Citroën Total World Rally Team	Citroën	C4 WRC		1	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	All
				2	Daniel Sordo	Marc Marti	All
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 08 Focus RS WRC 09		3	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	All
				4	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	All
Manufacturer Teams
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 08		5	Urmo Aava	Kuldar Sikk	1–2
					Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	3–12
				6	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	All
Citroën Junior Team	Citroën	C4 WRC		7	Chris Atkinson	Stéphane Prévot	1
					Evgeny Novikov	Dale Moscatt	2–4, 6–9
				8	Conrad Rautenbach	Daniel Barritt	1–8, 10–11
				11	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	12
				12	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	5, 9–12
Munchi's Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 08		9	Federico Villagra	nowrap	Jorge Perez Companc	nowrap	3, 5–6, 9–11
						José Díaz	4, 7
Petter Solberg World Rally Team	Citroën	Xsara WRC		11	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	2–9
		C4 WRC					11
Citroën Junior Team				7	Evgeny Novikov	Stéphane Prévot	11
				8	Conrad Rautenbach	Daniel Barritt	9, 12
				12	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	1–4, 6–8
				16	Aaron Burkart	Michael Kölbach	12
Adapta World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2008		14	Mads Østberg	Ole Kristian Unnerud	2, 4, 6–7
						Veronica Engan	8
						Jonas Andersson	9, 12
				20	Anders Grøndal	Maria Andersson	2
Prodrive				15	Marcus Grönholm	Timo Rautiainen	4
Ketomaa World Rally Team		Impreza WRC 2007		16	Jari Ketomaa	Mika Stenberg	9
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 08		15	Khalid Al Qassimi	Michael Orr	nowrap	1, 3–4, 6–7, 9–12
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team				15	Krzysztof Holowczyc	Lukasz Kurzeja	8
				16	Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	1–2
				17	Steve Perez	Paul Spooner	12
Andreas Mikkelsen	Škoda	Fabia WRC		16	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	8
P-G Andersson Rallying				19	Per-Gunnar Andersson	Anders Fredriksson	2
Van Merksteijn Motorsport	Ford	Focus RS WRC 06/07		17	nowrap	Peter Van Merksteijn, Jr.	Eddy Chevaillier	2, 4
				18	Peter Van Merksteijn, Sr.	Erwin Mombaerts	2
						Hans van Goor	4
Ipatec Racing		Focus RS WRC 06		66	Dennis Kuipers	Kees Hagman	4, 12
				68	René Kuipers	Erwin Berkhof	4
						Erwin Mombaerts	12
Bozian Racing	Peugeot	307 WRC		66	Dany Snobeck	Gilles Mondesir	11
Munchi's Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 08		10	Matti Rantanen	Mikko Lukka	9
					Paul Bird	Ian Windress	11
				72	Mattias Therman	Janne Perälä	9

J-WRC Entries

^[4]

No	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
31	Aaron Burkart	Michael Kölbach	Suzuki Swift S1600	1, 3, 5–6, 9, 11
32	Michał Kościuszko	Maciek Szczepaniak	Suzuki Swift S1600	3–6, 8–9
33	Simone Bertolotti	Luca Celestini	Suzuki Swift S1600	1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11
34	Luca Griotti	Corrado Bonato	Renault Clio R3	1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11
35	Yoann Bonato	Benjamin Boulloud	Suzuki Swift S1600	1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11
36	Hans Weijs, Jr.	Bjorn Degandt	Citroën C2 S1600	1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11
37	Kevin Abbring	Erwin Mombaerts	Renault Clio R3	1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11
38	Martin Prokop	Jan Tománek	Citroën C2 S1600	1, 3, 6, 8–9, 11
39	Alessandro Bettega	Simone Scattolin	Renault Clio S1600	5
			Renault Clio R3	4, 6, 8
	Mark Wallenwein	Stefan Kopczyk		9, 11
Additional guest entries <					-- PLEASE KEEP THESE ENTRIES IN THE ORDER THEY JOINED THE CHAMPIONSHIP, RATHER THAN NUMERICAL ORDER -->
60	Ross Forde	Arron Forde	Suzuki Swift Sport	1
59	Radosław Typa	Maciek Wislawski	Citroën C2 R2	8
60	Marcin Dobrowolski	Michal Dobrowolski	Citroën C2 R2	8
59	Kalle Pinomaki	Matti Kaskinen	Renault Clio R3	9
59	Jordi Martí	Gabriel Sánchez	Renault Clio R3	11

P-WRC Entries

^[5]

No	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
31	Martin Prokop	Jan Tománek	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4–5, 7, 10, 12
32	Bernardo Sousa	Jorge Carvalho	Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000	2–4, 6–7, 10, 12
33	Toshihiro Arai	Glenn Macneal	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2–3, 5, 7, 10, 12
34	Gianluca Linari	Andrea Cecchi	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2–4, 7, 10
		Paolo Gregoriani		6
35	Martin Semerád	Bohuslav Ceplecha	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2–3
64			Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	4, 6–7, 12
36	Egoi Eder Valdés López	Daniel Lucas	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	3–7, 12
37	Frederic Sauvan	Thibault Gorczyca	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2–3, 5–6
		Sebastien Capanna		7, 12
38	Gabor Mayer		Subaru Impreza WRX STI	3–7, 12
39	Riccardo Errani	Stefano Casadio	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	–
	Simone Campedelli	Danilo Fappani		3, 6
	Thomas Privé	Patrice Zurro		4
	Stefano Marrini	Roberto Mometti		5
	Armindo Araujo	Miguel Ramalho		10
	Eyvind Brynildsen	Denis Giraudet	Škoda Fabia S2000	12
40	Andis Neikšāns	Pēteris Dzirkals	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2–4, 6–7
	Dave Weston, Jr.	Iuean Thomas	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	12
43	Luciano Bernardi	Fabian Cretu	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	5
	Mark Tapper	Jeff Judd	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	10
65			Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	4, 6–7, 12
44	Jaromir Tarabus	Daniel Trunkat	Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000	2
		Filip Schovánek		4
	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Giovanni Bernacchini	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	3
	Spyros Pavlides	Chris Patterson		5, 12
		Denis Giraudet		7
45	Patrik Flodin	Göran Bergsten	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 6–7, 12
	Stewart Taylor	Warwick Searle	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	10
46	Patrik Sandell	Emil Axelsson	Škoda Fabia S2000	2–4, 6–7, 12
47	Armindo Araujo	Miguel Ramalho	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2–4, 6–7, 12
48	Gaurav Gill	David Senior	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2–4
	Hermann Gassner, Jr.	Katharina Wustenhagen	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	6, 12
	Stefano Marrini	Roberto Mometti		7
	Liu Chao Dong	Anthony McLoughlin		10
49	Eyvind Brynildsen	Denis Giraudet	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4–6, 10
	Giorgio Bacco	Nicola Arena		12
50	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Giovanni Bernacchini	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4–7, 12
	Richard Mason	Sara Mason		10
Additional guest entries <					-- PLEASE KEEP THESE ENTRIES IN THE ORDER THEY JOINED THE CHAMPIONSHIP, RATHER THAN NUMERICAL ORDER -->
59	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2
60	Bernt Kollevold	Veronica Engan	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2
159	Nicos Thomas	Stéphane Prévot	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	3
160	Charalambos Timotheu	Savvas Laos	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	3
159	Bruno Magalhães	Carlos Magalhães	Peugeot 207 S2000	4
160	Ricardo Moura	Paulo Fiuza	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	4
159	Gabriel Pozzo	Daniel Stillo	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	5
160	Marcos Ligato	Rubén Garcia	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	5
59	Lambros Athanassoulas	Nikolaos Zakheos	Škoda Fabia S2000	7
59	Cody Crocker	Ben Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	10
60	Neal Bates	Coral Taylor	Toyota Corolla S2000	10

† – At each rally, the organiser may nominate two "guest drivers" from their country to score support category points.

Results and standings

Results and statistics

Colour Rally Surface Gold Gravel Silver Tarmac Blue Snow/Ice Bronze Mixed Surface

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers				Statistics
	Rank	Driver	Car	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
1	/ Rally Ireland (30 January – 1 February) – Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	2:48:25.7	(19) 17	(349.65 km) 310.18 km	36	28
2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	2:49:53.6
3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	2:50:33.5
2	Rally Norway (12 – 15 February) – Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:28:15.9	23	360.90 km	42	34
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:28:25.7
3	nowrap	Jari-Matti Latvala	nowrap	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:29:37.7
3	Cyprus Rally (13 – 15 March) – Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	4:50:34.7	14	332.07 km	32	24
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	4:51:01.9
3	Petter Solberg	Citroën Xsara WRC	4:52:24.1
4	Rally de Portugal (2 – 5 April) – Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:53:13.1	18	361.36 km	70	41
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:53:37.4
3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:54:58.5
5	Rally Argentina (24 – 26 April) – Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:57:40.3	23	331.80 km	51	33
2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:58:53.4
3		Henning Solberg	Focus RS WRC 08	4:01:44.4
6	Rally d'Italia Sardegna (22 – 24 May) – Results and report	1		Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	4:00:55.7	17	347.12 km	59	37
2		Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	4:01:25.1
3		Petter Solberg	Citroën Xsara WRC	4:02:53.3
7	Acropolis Rally (12 – 14 June) – Results and report	1		Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	4:09:42.5	(17) 15	(371.02 km) 341.01 km	45	32
2		Sébastien Ogier	Citroën C4 WRC	4:10:55.4
3		Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	4:11:27.5
8	Rally Poland (26 – 29 June) – Results and report	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	3:07:27.5	18	352.00 km	48	34
2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:08:37.8
3		Henning Solberg	Focus RS WRC 08	3:09:33.2
9	Rally Finland (31 July – 2 August) – Results and report	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	2:50:40.9	23	345.15 km	90	60
2	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	2:51:06.0
3	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	2:51:30.8
10	Rally Australia (4 – 6 September) – Results and report	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	2:53:06.5	(35) 33	(344.72 km) 322.06 km	40	25
2	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	2:53:54.0
3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	2:54:11.1
11	Rally Catalunya (2 – 4 October) – Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:22:14.7	18	353.62 km	70	52
2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:22:26.7
3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	3:23:08.8
12	Rally of Great Britain (23 – 25 October) – Results and report	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:16:25.4	16	348.30 km	62	50
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	3:17:31.5
3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:17:32.5

Notes:

• – Stages 7 (Murley) and 8 (Fardross) were cancelled.^[6]
• – Stages 3 (Evangelistria) and 16 (Loutraki 2) were cancelled.^[7]
• – Stages 6 (CTEK East 1) and 11 (CTEK East 2) were cancelled.^[8]

Drivers' championship

Driver IRL NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRC POL FIN AUS ESP GBR  Pts  1 Sébastien Loeb 1 1 1 1 1 4 Ret 7 2 2 1 1 93 2 Mikko Hirvonen 3 2 2 2 Ret 2 1 1 1 1 3 2 92 3 Daniel Sordo 2 5 4 3 2 22 11 2 4 3 2 3 64 4 Jari-Matti Latvala 14 3 12 Ret 6 1 3 Ret 3 4 6 7 41 5 Petter Solberg 6 3 4 Ret 3 Ret 4 Ret 4 4 35 6 Henning Solberg 4 4 18 5 3 8 14 3 30 7 9 5 33 7 Matthew Wilson 7 7 5 Ret 5 6 13 5 8 6 7 6 28 8 Sébastien Ogier 6 10 Ret 17 7 Ret 2 Ret 6 5 5 Ret 24 9 Federico Villagra 7 7 4 Ret 4 11 8 8 16 10 Conrad Rautenbach 18 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 5 8 Ret Ret 11 8 9 11 Mads Østberg 9 6 7 7 Ret Ret Ret 7 12 Khalid al-Qassimi 8 8 8 15 6 9 19 14 19 6 13 Evgeny Novikov 11 Ret Ret 5 15 9 Ret Ret DNS 4 14 Chris Atkinson 5 4 15 Matti Rantanen 5 4 16 Krzysztof Hołowczyc 6 3 17 Jari Ketomaa 7 2 18 Nasser Al-Attiyah 11 16 8 9 DSQ Ret 1 19 Urmo Aava 10 8 29 1 20 align=left nowrap Lambros Athanassoulas 8 25 1 Driver IRL NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRC POL FIN AUS ESP GBR Pts

• Sébastien Loeb secured the drivers' championship title in Wales.

Manufacturers' championship

Manufacturer IRL NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS ESP GBR Points 1 Citroën Total World Rally Team 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 Ret 5 2 2 1 1 167 2 2 5 3 3 2 7 5 2 4 3 2 3 2 BP Ford World Rally Team 3 3 2 2 2 Ret 2 1 1 1 1 3 2 140 4 7 3 7 Ret 6 1 2 Ret 3 4 5 7 3 Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 5 6 6 4 Ret 5 5 6 4 6 6 6 6 80 6 4 4 8 4 3 6 7 3 8 7 8 5 4 Citroën Junior Team 7 5 7 Ret Ret 4 8 7 Ret 47 8 8 Ret 5 Ret Ret Ret 4 6 Ret 9 11 4 12 7 5 5 4 Ret 5 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 9 6 5 4 Ret 3 7 8 7 23 Manufacturer IRL NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS ESP GBR Points

• Citroën secured the manufacturers' championship in Catalunya.

JWRC Drivers' championship

Driver IRL CYP POR ARG ITA POL FIN ESP  Pts  1 Martin Prokop 2 1 1 2 1 Ret 46 2 Michał Kościuszko 2 1 1 2 Ret 3 42 3 Aaron Burkart 1 3 2 3 4 5 39 4 Kevin Abbring 5 2 Ret 1 Ret 4 27 5 Hans Weijs, Jr. Ret 3 6 4 7 1 26 6 align=left nowrap Simone Bertolotti 3 6 7 5 6 2 26 7 Yoann Bonato 4 Ret 4 3 Ret 16 8 align=left nowrap Alessandro Bettega 5 3 5 14 9 Luca Griotti 6 4 Ret 7 Ret 10 10 2 8 11 Jordi Marti 3 6 12 Mark Wallenwein 5 Ret 4 13 Radosław Typa 6 3 Driver IRL CYP POR ARG ITA POL FIN ESP Pts

PWRC Drivers' championship

Driver NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRC AUS GBR  Pts  1 Armindo Araujo 4 2 1 3 2 4 42 2 Martin Prokop 3 2 DSQ 4 1 1 39 3 Nasser Al-Attiyah 3 4 1 1 13 Ret 31 4 Patrik Sandell 1 1 Ret 2 11 7 30 5 Toshihiro Arai Ret 4 3 3 Ret 2 25 6 Eyvind Brynildsen 2 3 5 5 Ret DSQ 22 7 Patrik Flodin 7 Ret 4 7 6 12 8 Andis Neikšāns 5 5 Ret EX 6 11 9 align=left nowrap Lambros Athanassoulas 1 10 10 Bernardo Sousa Ret Ret 5 Ret 4 9 11 Mark Tapper 5 Ret 8 Ret 5 9 12 Marcos Ligato 2 8 13 Richard Mason 2 8 14 Gianluca Linari 11 9 6 7 10 6 8 15 Martin Semerad 10 Ret 8 Ret Ret 3 7 16 Cody Crocker 3 6 17 Frederic Sauvan 8 7 Ret 6 12 10 6 18 Spyros Pavlides 4 9 5 19 Gabor Mayer 8 Ret 6 8 Ret 9 5 20 Stewart Taylor 5 4 21 Jaromir Tarabus 6 Ret 3 22 Charalambos Timotheu 6 3 23 Gaurav Singh Gill Ret 7 2 24 Hermann Gassner Jr. Ret 8 1 Driver NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRC AUS GBR Pts

External links

• Official website of the World Rally Championship
• FIA World Rally Championship 2009 at ewrc-results.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: Loeb secures sixth title in a row . 2009-10-25. BBC Sport . 2009-10-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20091028033133/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/world_rally/8324857.stm. 28 October 2009 . live.
2. Web site: 2009 WRC sporting regulations (section 51.3).
3. Web site: 2009 WRC calendars finalised. 2008-11-06. 2008-11-06.
4. Web site: World Rally Championship – FIA Juniors – . https://web.archive.org/web/20090529011622/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=930 . 29 May 2009 . dead . 2009-07-03 .
5. Web site: World Rally Championship - P-WRC - . 25 May 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090419174411/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=a30 . 19 April 2009 . dead .
6. Web site: 4. Rally Ireland 2009 - Event stats. ewrc-results.com. 9 February 2014.
7. Web site: 56. Acropolis Rally of Greece 2009 - Event stats. ewrc-results.com. 9 February 2014.
8. Web site: 20. Repco Rally Australia 2009 - Event stats. ewrc-results.com. 9 February 2014.