RALLY NORWAY
(12 - 15 FEBRUARY 2009)
After an intense battle, the Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena won Rally Norway, the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The reigning World Champions finished 9.8 seconds ahead of Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (BP Ford), with their team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila third.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb extends his lead and holds a six-point advantage over Hirvonen. Dani Sordo is third. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroën Total heads BP Ford by 10 points.
The final day of competition was the longest of the event and took in two loops of three stages covering 126.16 competitive kilometres. Loeb started the day with a 15 second lead but in the opening stage Hirvonen reeled in 5.3 seconds to close the gap to 9.7 seconds. However, Loeb once again fought back and the duo continued trading fastest times throughout the day until, going into the final stage, Hirvonen’s 7.7 second deficit just proved too much to overcome in the 19.74 kilometre stage.
Latvala was able to cruise to the finish without taking risks; such was his advantage over fourth placed Henning Solberg (Stobart Ford). After a disappointing outing in Ireland on the opening round, the Finn is nevertheless happy to score his first points of the season. Dani Sordo (Citroën Total) was unable to take the fight to Solberg, his lack of experience of the roads putting him at a disadvantage to the Norwegian. Having pulled together his own team in just three weeks, Petter Solberg did well to finish in the Citroën Xsara. Engine problems lost him time yesterday but the former World Champion took sixth position after a big battle with Britain’s Matthew Wilson (Stobart Ford). His team-mate Urmo Aava rounded off the top eight.
The third round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews to the island of Cyprus (12-15 March) for the only mixed surface rally of the season.
Rally Norway – Final Results (subject to final scrutineering)
| 1 |
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena |
Citroën C4 WRC |
3 hr 28 min 15.9sec |
| 2 |
Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 28 min 25.7sec |
| 3 |
Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 29 min 37.7sec |
| 4 |
Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 31 min 49.4sec |
| 5 |
Dani Sordo/Marc Marti |
Citroën C4 WRC |
3 hr 32 min 07.9sec |
| 6 |
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills |
Citroën Xsara WRC |
3 hr 34 min 41.3sec |
| 7 |
Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 34 min 51.5sec |
| 8 |
Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 35 min 05.0sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 2 of 12 rounds)
| Sébastien Loeb (F) |
20 points |
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) |
14 points |
| Dani Sordo (E) |
12 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) |
10 points |
| Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) |
6 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) |
4 points |
| Matthew Wilson (GB) |
4 points |
| Sébastien Ogier (F) |
3 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) |
3 points |
| Khalid Al Qassimi (UAE) |
1 point |
| Urmo Aava (EE) |
1 point |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 2 of 12 rounds)
| troën Total World Rally Team |
32 points |
| BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team |
22 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team |
16 points |
| Citroën Junior Team |
7 points |