FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
RALLY IRELAND
The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena cruised to victory on Rally Ireland, the opening round of the 2009 FIA World Rally Championship. Team-mates Dani Sordo and Marc Marti gave the team a one-two finish while Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen claimed third.
The final day of Rally Ireland took in five stages and for the first time since Thursday, the rain finally stopped and drying roads made for slightly easier driving conditions. With more than a minute in hand, Loeb could afford to control the pace but in the penultimate stage the Frenchman lost control of the car, skidding sideways for 60 metres. Lucky to escape any damage, he reached the finish of the event nearly 90 seconds ahead of Sordo.
Behind the leading trio, the battle for fourth position between Henning Solberg (Stobart Ford) and Chris Atkinson (Citroën Junior Team) was intense. Atkinson took the advantage this morning and held fourth position until the penultimate stage, when he too went off the road. Losing nearly 90 seconds, he slid back to fifth leaving Solberg to take fourth.
Sébastien Ogier (Citroën C4) retained his overnight sixth position, with Matthew Wilson (Stobart Ford) and Khalid Al Qassimi (Ford Focus) rounding off the top eight.
The second round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews to Norway for the only snow event on this year’s calendar (12-15 February).
Rally Ireland – Final Results (subject to final scrutineering)
| 1 |
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena |
Citroën C4 WRC |
2 hr 48 min 25.7sec |
| 2 |
Dani Sordo/Marc Marti |
Citroën C4 WRC |
2 hr 49 min 53.6sec |
| 3 |
Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
2 hr 50 min 33.5sec |
| 4 |
Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
2 hr 54 min 58.1sec |
| 5 |
Chris Atkinson/Stéphane Prévot |
Citroën C4 WRC |
2 hr 56 min 17.6sec |
| 6 |
Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia |
Citroën C4 WRC |
2 hr 59 min 09.7sec |
| 7 |
Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
2 hr 59 min 49.5sec |
| 8 |
Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 02 min 33.6sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 1 of 12 rounds)
| Sébastien Loeb (F) |
10 points |
| Dani Sordo (E) |
8 points |
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) |
6 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) |
5 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) |
4 points |
| Sébastien Ogier (F) |
3 points |
| Matthew Wilson (GB) |
2 points |
| Khalid Al Qassimi (UAE) |
1 point |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 1 of 12 rounds)
| Citroën Total World Rally Team |
18 points |
| BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team |
8 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team |
8 points |
| Citroën Junior Team |
5 points |