2009 Rally de Portugal 43º Vodafone Rally de Portugal | |||
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Round 4 of the 2009 World Rally Championship
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Host country | Portugal | ||
Rally base | Vilamoura | ||
Dates run | 2 April – 5 April 2009 | ||
Stages | 18 (341.36 km; 212.11 miles) | ||
Stage surface | gravel | ||
Results | |||
Overall winner | Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total World Rally Team | ||
Crews | 68 at start, 41 at finish |
The 2009 Vodafone Rally de Portugal was the 43rd running of the Rally Portugal and the fourth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. It took place between 2-5 April 2009 and consisted of 18 special stages.
The event was won by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb ahead of Ford's Mikko Hirvonen and Loeb's teammate Dani Sordo. Norwegian drivers Petter Solberg, his brother Henning Solberg and Mads Østberg took the following positions. The last point-scoring places went to Federico Villagra and Khalid al-Qassimi, after Evgeny Novikov crashed out from eighth place on stage 15, and fifth-placed Matthew Wilson and now eighth-placed Conrad Rautenbach both retired on the penultimate stage.
The early leader Jari-Matti Latvala had a big crash on the fourth stage, rolling his Ford Focus WRC 17 times over a distance of 150 metres. Marcus Grönholm, who came out of retirement to contest the rally in a Prodrive-prepared Subaru Impreza WRC, crashed out from fourth place on stage eight. [1]
Day | Stage | Time (WEST) | Name | Length | Winner | Time | Rally leader |
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1 (2-3 APR) | SS1 | 16:50 | Estadio Algarve 1 | 2.21 km | Henning Solberg | 2:09.6 | Henning Solberg |
SS2 | 10:15 | Ourique 1 | 23.42 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 14:26.9 | Jari-Matti Latvala | |
SS3 | 11:12 | Silves 1 | 21.54 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 12:11.6 | ||
SS4 | 11:55 | Malhao 1 | 22.04 km | Sébastien Loeb | 14:10.8 | Daniel Sordo | |
SS5 | 15:00 | Ourique 2 | 23.42 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 14:27.3 | Mikko Hirvonen | |
SS6 | 15:57 | Silves 2 | 21.54 km | Daniel Sordo | 12:09.8 | ||
SS7 | 16:40 | Malhao 2 | 22.04 km | Sébastien Loeb | 14:06.6 | ||
2 (4 APR) | SS8 | 09:55 | Santa Clara 1 | 22.61 km | Sébastien Loeb | 13:52.3 | |
SS9 | 10:30 | Almodovar 1 | 27.18 km | Sébastien Loeb | 17:14.6 | Sébastien Loeb | |
SS10 | 11:40 | Vascao 1 | 22.8 km | Sébastien Loeb | 14:47.2 | ||
SS11 | 14:50 | Santa Clara 2 | 22.61 km | Sébastien Loeb | 13:50.0 | ||
SS12 | 15:25 | Almodovar 2 | 27.18 km | Sébastien Loeb | 17:20.3 | ||
SS13 | 16:35 | Vascao 2 | 22.8 km | Sébastien Loeb | 14:40.6 | ||
3 (5 APR) | SS14 | 07:50 | Loule 1 | 22.65 km | Sébastien Loeb | 15:46.6 | |
SS15 | 08:45 | S. Bras Alportel 1 | 16.23 km | Sébastien Loeb | 11:40.1 | ||
SS16 | 11:16 | Loule 2 | 22.65 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 15:34.9 | ||
SS17 | 12:11 | S. Bras Alportel 2 | 16.23 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 11:36.0 | ||
SS18 | 14:00 | Estadio Algarve 2 | 2.21 km | Henning Solberg | 2:08.8 | ||
Petter Solberg is a Norwegian former professional rally and rallycross driver.
Marcus Ulf Johan Grönholm is a Finnish former rally and rallycross driver, being part of a family of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland lineage. His son, Niclas Grönholm, is an upcoming FIA World Rallycross Championship driver. Grönholm's nicknames are either "Bosse" or "Magic Marcus". Grönholm is one of the most successful WRC drivers of all time, ranking third in rally wins (30), and winning two championships, in 2000 and 2002. After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing out to Sébastien Loeb by one point. The next year he again placed second, four points behind Loeb. He and his co-driver Timo Rautiainen retired from rallying after the 2007 season but returned to the championship in 2009 driving a private Subaru for a short period of time, and in the 2019 World Rally Championship where he competed in a Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT-maintained Toyota Yaris under the GRX Team banner.
Sébastien Loeb is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He holds several other WRC records, including most event wins, most podium finishes and most stage wins. Loeb retired from full time WRC participation at the end of 2012. He currently drives part time in the WRC for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, full time in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) for Bahrain Raid Xtreme, and full time in the Extreme E Championship for Team X44.
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