2009 Rally Ireland

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2009 Rally Ireland
2nd Rally Ireland
Round 1 of the 2009 World Rally Championship
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North Sligo Town.jpg
An aerial view of Sligo, where Rally Ireland's headquarters located.
Host country Ireland/Northern Ireland
Rally base Sligo, Ireland
Dates run30 January 1 February 2009
Stages19 (366.94 km; 228.01 miles)
Stage surface Tarmac/Mud
Overall distance1,407.68 km (874.69 miles)
Statistics
Crews36 at start, 28 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb
Flag of France.svg Citroën Total World Rally Team

The 2009 Rally Ireland, officially 2nd Rally Ireland, was the first round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and was held between 30 January and 1 February 2009. It was also the opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship this season. Sligo was once again the rally base with the special stages being held on agricultural tarmac roads and major tarmac roads in the north west of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Contents

Introduction

The rally returned after a year's absence as to hold the opening round of the World Rally Championship after the Monte Carlo Rally was absent on the year's calendar due to the FIA's Round Rotation calendar system. This happens every two years, so the rally was out for 2010 in favour of Monte Carlo resuming its traditional place as the season opener, but returned in 2011 in the same position. [1]

World Rally Championship

Sebastien Loeb, winner of Rally Ireland for the second time. Sebastien Loeb.jpg
Sébastien Loeb, winner of Rally Ireland for the second time.

During Friday, heavy rain dominated the weekend and drivers found it difficult to compete in this kind of torrential weather, also mud became a feature, especially on broken tarmac roads. But Sébastien Loeb took the win second time in the row with Dani Sordo sealing a Citroën 1–2, two events in succession since the inaugural Rally Ireland held in 2007. Mikko Hirvonen once again settled for third place against the Citroën's tarmac wizards, with 2:07.8 minutes behind Loeb. Norway's Henning Solberg was the only of the Solberg brothers present after the no-show of 2003 WRC Champion Petter Solberg. He finished fourth, his best result on tarmac, but he was almost beaten by Citroën's newbie Chris Atkinson who finished in fifth overall despite some big scary moments, including hitting a telegraph pole on Leg 1 and spinning on Stage 18. Sébastien Ogier finished in sixth ahead of Matthew Wilson in a tight battle, while Khalid al-Qassimi became the first Arab rally driver since 1993 by compatriot Mohammed Bin Sulayem. [2] But some drivers such as Jari Matti Latvala, who leads after Stage 1 broke his drive shaft after a puncture on two wheels, Ford's new driver Urmo Aava who leads after Stages 2 and 3, slid off the road and crashing without heavy impact at the Aughnasheelan Stage 6, and Conrad Rautenbach slid off at Stage 9 at Sloughan Glen and got his Citroën C4 deeply stuck at the mud, were all able to restart under the SuperRally rules to finish 10th by Aava, 14th by Latvala, and Rautenbach crossed the line in 18th place, and all of them score manufacturer's points for their respective teams.

Junior World Rally Championship

The JWRC drivers suffered in this torrential weather as well in the rally during the course of the weekend as eight JWRC drivers competed. Aaron Burkart who switch from his longtime associates Citroën to Suzuki this year was confident of the decision, [3] just won his first JWRC rally in his debut with the team, ahead of the Czech driver Martin Prokop, unlike Burkart stayed with Citroën. While a distant third place for Italian Suzuki driver Simone Bertolotti, who previously drove for Renault. But worst thing happened that Dutchman Hans Weijs jr. who crash heavily at Stage 14 at Tempo under heavy rain that cause to stop some times by rally drivers such as Yoann Bonato and countryman Kevin Abbring, both had activated the SuperRally rules after retiring at Leg 1, had to start their runs all over again because of the incident, but both he and his co-driver were uninjured and the car was not badly damaged.

Results

Pos.DriverCo-driverCarTimeDifferencePoints
WRC
1. Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb Flag of Monaco.svg Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 2:48:25.710
2. Flag of Spain.svg Dani Sordo Flag of Spain.svg Marc Marti Citroën C4 WRC 2:49:53.6+1:27.98
3. Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Hirvonen Flag of Finland.svg Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 08 2:50:33.5+2:07.86
4. Flag of Norway.svg Henning Solberg Flag of Norway.svg Cato Menkerud Ford Focus RS WRC 08 2:54:58.1+6:32.45
5. Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Atkinson Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stéphane Prévot Citroën C4 WRC 2:56:17.6+7:51.94
6. Flag of France.svg Sébastien Ogier Flag of France.svg Julien Ingrassia Citroën C4 WRC 2:59:09.7+10:44.03
7. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Matthew Wilson Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Scott Martin Ford Focus RS WRC 08 2:59:49.5+11:23.82
8. Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Khalid al-Qassimi Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Michael Orr Ford Focus RS WRC 08 3:02:33.6+14:07.91
JWRC
1. (16.) Flag of Germany.svg Aaron Burkart Flag of Germany.svg Michael Kölbach Suzuki Swift S1600 3:16:41.510
2. (17.) Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Martin Prokop Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Jan Tománek Citroën C2 S1600 3:17:28.8+47.38
3. (19.) Flag of Italy.svg Simone Bertolotti Flag of Italy.svg Luca Celestini Suzuki Swift S1600 3:25:41.6+9:00.16
4. (20.) Flag of France.svg Yoann Bonato Flag of France.svg Benjamin Boulloud Suzuki Swift S1600 3:29:47.7+13:06.25
5. (22.) Flag of the Netherlands.svg Kevin Abbring Flag of the Netherlands.svg Erwin Mombaerts Renault Clio S1600 3:34:19.5+17:38.04
6. (25.) Flag of Italy.svg Luca Griotti Flag of Italy.svg Corrado Bonato Renault Clio S1600 3:43:49.9+27:08.43

Special stages

DayStageTime (GMT)NameLengthWinnerTimeAvg. spd.Rally leader
1
(30 JAN)
SS108:13 Flag of Ireland.svg Glenboy 122.25 km Flag of Finland.svg Jari-Matti Latvala 12:44.0104.8 km/h Flag of Finland.svg Jari-Matti Latvala
SS209:01 Flag of Ireland.svg Cavan 115.09 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 8:31.5106.2 km/h Flag of Estonia.svg Urmo Aava
SS309:42 Flag of Ireland.svg Aughnasheelan 125.19 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 14:35.2103.6 km/h
SS413:02 Flag of Ireland.svg Glenboy 222.25 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 11:37.4114.9 km/h Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb
SS513:50 Flag of Ireland.svg Cavan 215.09 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 7:40.5118.0 km/h
SS614:31 Flag of Ireland.svg Aughnasheelan 225.19 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 13:44.6110.0 km/h
SS718:54 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Murley24.70 kmStage cancelled
SS819:39 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Fardross14.77 kmStage cancelled
2
(31 JAN)
SS908:13 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sloughan Glen 127.76 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 14:43.3113.1 km/h
SS1009:06 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ballinamallard 125.46 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 13:02.1117.2 km/h
SS1109:49 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tempo 113.46 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 7:33.1106.9 km/h
SS1213:57 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sloughan Glen 227.76 km Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Hirvonen 14:33.9114.4 km/h
SS1314:50 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ballinamallard 225.46 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 12:51.4118.8 km/h
SS1415:33 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tempo 213.46 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 7:30.1107.7 km/h
3
(1 FEB)
SS1508:35 Flag of Ireland.svg Geevagh 11.48 km Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Hirvonen 6:11.3111.3 km/h
SS1609:00 Flag of Ireland.svg Arigna 10.88 km Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 6:03.6107.7 km/h
SS1709:51 Flag of Ireland.svg Lough Gill 13.51 km Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Hirvonen 6:27.0125.7 km/h
SS1812:09 Flag of Ireland.svg Donegal Bay 14.47 km Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Hirvonen 8:09.7106.4 km/h
SS1913:10 Flag of Ireland.svg Donegal Town 1.50 km Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Hirvonen 1:08.179.3 km/h

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

PosDriver IRL
Flag of Ireland.svg
NOR
Flag of Norway.svg
CYP
Flag of Cyprus.svg
POR
Flag of Portugal (official).svg
ARG
Flag of Argentina.svg
ITA
Flag of Italy.svg
GRC
Flag of Greece.svg
POL
Flag of Poland.svg
FIN
Flag of Finland.svg
AUS
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
ESP
Flag of Spain.svg
GBR
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
 Pts 
1 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Loeb 110
2 Flag of Spain.svg Dani Sordo 28
3 Flag of Finland.svg Mikko Hirvonen 36
4 Flag of Norway.svg Henning Solberg 45
5 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Atkinson 54
6 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Ogier 63
7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Matthew Wilson 72
8 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Khalid al-Qassimi 81
PosDriver IRL
Flag of Ireland.svg
NOR
Flag of Norway.svg
CYP
Flag of Cyprus.svg
POR
Flag of Portugal (official).svg
ARG
Flag of Argentina.svg
ITA
Flag of Italy.svg
GRC
Flag of Greece.svg
POL
Flag of Poland.svg
FIN
Flag of Finland.svg
AUS
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
ESP
Flag of Spain.svg
GBR
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Pts
Key
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleDid not finish (Ret)
BlackExcluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
BlankWithdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship

RankDriverEventTotal
points
IRL
Flag of Ireland.svg
NOR
Flag of Norway.svg
CYP
Flag of Cyprus.svg
POR
Flag of Portugal (official).svg
ARG
Flag of Argentina.svg
ITA
Flag of Italy.svg
GRC
Flag of Greece.svg
POL
Flag of Poland.svg
FIN
Flag of Finland.svg
AUS
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
ESP
Flag of Spain.svg
GBR
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
1 Flag of France.svg Citroën Total World Rally Team 1818
2 Flag of the United States.svg BP Ford World Rally Team 88
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 88
4 Flag of France.svg Citroën Junior Team 55

References

  1. "2009 WRC calendars finalised". WRC. 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2008-11-06.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. "Loeb wins Rally Ireland". Rally Ireland. 2009-02-03. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  3. "Burkart confident after Suzuki switch". 3 February 2009. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2009.