FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
RALLY OF GREAT BRITAIN
(22 - 25 OCTOBER 2009)
RALLY NEWS
The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena won the Rally of Great Britain today and in doing so have claimed a record-breaking sixth FIA World Rally Championship title*. After a dramatic closing four stages, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen narrowly clinched the runner up spot, just one second ahead of Dani Sordo and Marc Marti.
At the end of a season dominated by Loeb and Hirvonen, the Frenchman won the title by a single point after one of the closest battles. At the beginning of the year, Loeb looked to have the upper hand, winning the first five events. However, Hirvonen bounced back in the second half of the season to win four consecutive rallies and hold the Championship lead going into the final round of the series. He ultimately finished second to Loeb and Dani Sordo maintained third. Citroën claimed the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers* on the penultimate round in Spain.
Today was the shortest of the three-day event and covered just 79.84 competitive kilometres. In the opening stage Hirvonen took the advantage and then slashed the deficit to Loeb to 18.2 seconds after the first loop of stages. However, in the penultimate stage the Finn’s bonnet flew up after a jump and he was forced to stop and remove it, losing over a minute and any hope of a final stage battle. As a consequence, he and third-placed Sordo reached the finish separated by one second.
Petter Solberg claimed fourth with brother Henning fifth. Sébastien Ogier, previously fifth, rolled into retirement in the penultimate stage. Britain’s Matthew Wilson finished sixth ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala and Conrad Rautenbach.
* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA
Rally of Great Britain – Final Results
(Subject to final scrutineering and a complete engine inspection for Car 1 - Loeb/Elena)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 |
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena
Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
Dani Sordo/Marc Marti
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills
Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud
Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin
Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Antilla
Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barritt |
Citroën C4 WRC
Ford Focus RS WRC
Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën C4 WRC
Ford Focus RS WRC
Ford Focus RS WRC
Ford Focus RS WRC
Citroën C4 WRC |
3 hr 16 min 25.4s
3 hr 17 min 31.5s
3 hr 17 min 32.5s
3 hr 17 min 53.5s
3 hr 22 min 53.4s
3 hr 24 min 11.4s
3 hr 28 min 37.3s
3 hr 30 min 53.2s |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 12 of 12 rounds)
Sébastien Loeb (F)
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)
Dani Sordo (E)
Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)
Petter Solberg (N)
Henning Solberg (N)
Matthew Wilson (GB)
Sébastien Ogier (F)
Federico Villagra (RA)
Conrad Rautenbach (ZW)
Mads Östberg (N)
Khalid Al Qassimi (UAE)
Evgeny Novikov (RUS)
Chris Atkinson (AUS)
Matti Rantanen (FIN)
Krzysztof Holowczyc (PL)
Jari Ketomaa (FIN)
Urmo Aava (EE)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)
Lambros Athanassoulas (GR) |
93 points
92 points
64 points
41 points
35 points
33 points
28 points
24 points
16 points
9 points
7 points
6 points
4 points
4 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point
1 point
1 point |
|
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 12 of 12 rounds)
Citroën Total World Rally Team
BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team
Citroën Junior Team
Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team |
167 points
140 points
80 points
47 points
23 points |
|