Rally Australia 2009

 Rally Australia 2009

Racing data
10th of 12 races of the 2009 World Rally Championship
Surname:	Rally Australia
Date:	3rd-6th September 2009
Begin:	Kingscliff
Exams:	35 tests over 344.72 km
Distance:	1733.75 km
Covering:	gravel
Podium
First:	Mikko Hirvonen Ford World Rally Team
Second:	Sébastien Loeb Citroën World Rally Team
Third:	Daniel Sordo Citroën World Rally Team

Mikko Hirvonen / Jarmo Lehtinen in Australia 2009

The Rally Australia was the tenth World Championship round in 2009 . The rally consisted of 35 special stages and was driven between September 3rd and 6th. Special stages six and eleven had to be canceled due to protests by environmentalists.

Race report

After Sébastien Loeb had scored just 15 points from the past four rallies and lost the lead in the world championship to Mikko Hirvonen , the defending champion secured his first WRC victory in Australia since the Rally Argentina in April. At least that's what it looked like at first. After the technical inspection of the Citroën C4 WRC , Loeb was given a time penalty and thus downgraded to second place behind rival Mikko Hirvonen. According to the race management, the stabilizers on all C4 WRCs did not conform to the rules. Dani Sordo and Sébastien Ogier were also given a one-minute time penalty. In the overall standings, Hirvonen extended his lead with his fourth win of the season in two rallies still to go. With 78 points he is five points ahead of Loeb. If it had stayed with Loeb's victory, he would have come within one point of Hirvonen.

Classifications

Bottom line

Item	driver	Co-driver	automobile	time	Residue	Points
WRC
1	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Focus RS WRC	2: 53: 06.5		10
2	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën C4 WRC	2: 53: 54.0	0: 47.5	8th
3	Dani Sordo	Marc Martí	Citroën C4 WRC	2: 54: 11.1	1: 04.6	6th
4th	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Ford Focus RS WRC	2: 54: 58.5	1: 52.0	5
5	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Citroën C4 WRC	2: 55: 29.8	2: 23.3	4th
6th	Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	Ford Focus RS WRC	2: 58: 32.8	5: 26.3	3
7th	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	Ford Focus RS WRC	3: 00: 24.3	7: 17.8	2
8th	Federico Villagra	Jorge Pérez Companc	Ford Focus RS WRC	3: 00: 45.9	7: 39.4	1
PWRC
1	Martin Prokop	Jan Tománek	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	3: 08: 51.2		10
2	Richard Mason	Sara Mason	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	3: 09: 33.4	0: 42.2	8th
3	Cody Crocker	Ben Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	3: 10: 26.5	1: 35.3	6th
4th	Armindo Araújo	Miguel Ramalho	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	3: 12: 59.3	4: 08.1	5
5	Stewart Taylor	Warwick Searle	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	3: 14: 30.3	5: 39.1	4th
6th	Gianluca Linari	Massimo Salvucci	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	3: 38: 52.8	30: 01.6	3

Special stages

Day	WP number	WP name	length	WP winner	time	leader
Day 1 (3rd Sep)	WP1	Tweed 1	2.55 km	Sébastien Ogier	1: 49.0	Sébastien Ogier
	WP2	Tweed 2	2.55 km	Sébastien Ogier	1: 46.1
Day 2 (Sep 4th)	WP3	Kyogle 1	7.32 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	4: 05.5
	WP4	Repco 1	22.41 km	Mikko Hirvonen	10: 27.3	Jari-Matti Latvala
	WP5	Kyogle 2	7.32 km	Dani Sordo	3: 59.1
	WP6	CTEK East 1	11.33 km	called off
	WP7	Mooball 1	5.85 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	4: 41.7
	WP8	Kidney Health 1	5.74 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	4: 29.4
	WP9	Castrol Edge 1	6.85 km	Sébastien Ogier	4: 38.9
	WP10	Castrol Edge East 2	6.85 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	4: 29.3
	WP11	CTEK East 2	11.33 km	called off
	WP12	Mooball 2	5.85 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	4: 36.7
	WP13	Kidney Health 2	5.74 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	4: 26.0
	WP14	Tweed 3	2.55 km	Sébastien Ogier	1: 48.1
	WP15	Tweed 4	2.55 km	Sébastien Ogier	1: 46.8
Day 2 (5th Sep)	WP16	Dayco 1	20.31 km	Mikko Hirvonen	9: 45.1
	WP17	Bosch 1	18.75 km	Sébastien Loeb	9: 26.3
	WP18	Armor All 1	8.2 km	Sébastien Loeb	3: 47.2
	WP19	Urliup	5.24 km	Mikko Hirvonen	4: 25.7
	WP20	Armor All 2	8.2 km	Sébastien Loeb	3: 42.8
	WP21	CTEK West 1	8.59 km	Sébastien Loeb	4: 28.3	Sébastien Loeb
	WP22	Dayco 2	20.31 km	Sébastien Loeb	9: 38.3
	WP23	Bosch 2	18.75 km	Dani Sordo	9: 30.6	Mikko Hirvonen
	WP24	Tweed 5	2.55 km	Sébastien Ogier	1: 47.4
	WP25	Tweed 6	2.55 km	Sébastien Ogier	1: 46.2	Dani Sordo
Day 3 (September 6th)	WP26	Monroe 1	7.4 km	Sébastien Loeb	3: 25.8	Sébastien Loeb subsequently received a penalty minute, and the rally winner is Mikko Hirvonen
	WP27	West 1	21.52 km	Dani Sordo	10: 01.9
	WP28	Gondwana 1	10.88 km	Mikko Hirvonen	6: 19.0
	WP29	Upper Clarence 1	6.94 km	Jari-Matti Latvala	3: 14.6
	WP30	CTEK West 2	8.59 km	Sébastien Loeb	4: 27.5
	WP31	Monroe 2	7.4 km	Sébastien Loeb	3: 21.1
	WP32	West 2	21.52 km	Dani Sordo	9: 46.9
	WP33	Gondwana 2	10.88 km	Sébastien Loeb	6: 09.1
	WP34	Upper Clarence 2	6.94 km	Jari-Matti Latvala Sébastien Ogier	3: 12.2
	WP35	Repco 2	22.41 km	Mikko Hirvonen	10: 14.4

Individual evidence

1. ↑ motorsport-total.com: Loeb loses victory at the Green Table , accessed on January 2, 2015

Web links

Commons : World Rally Championship 2009  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website