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The 2009 World Rally Championship was the 37th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of twelve rallies and began on 30 January, with Rally Ireland and ended with Rally GB on 25 October. Sébastien Loeb won the World Drivers' championship at Rally GB by one point from Mikko Hirvonen, taking his sixth consecutive crown. [1] Citroën secured their fifth Manufacturers' title, Martin Prokop won the JWRC Drivers' championship and Armindo Araujo won the PWRC Drivers' championship.
The number of mechanics available per car has been dropped from 12 to 8. [2]
The 2009 championship was contested over twelve rounds in Europe, South America and Oceania.
Rd. | Start date | Finish date | Rally | Rally headquarters | Surface | Stages | Distance | Support class |
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1 | 30 January | 1 February | 4th Rally Ireland | Sligo, Connacht | Tarmac | 19 | 349.73 km | JWRC |
2 | 12 February | 15 February | 23rd Rally Norway | Hamar, Innlandet | Snow | 23 | 360.90 km | PWRC |
3 | 13 March | 15 March | 37th FxPro Cyprus Rally | Lemesos, Limassol District | Mixed | 14 | 332.07 km | PWRC/JWRC |
4 | 2 April | 5 April | 43rd Vodafone Rally de Portugal | Almancil, Algarve | Gravel | 18 | 361.36 km | PWRC/JWRC |
5 | 23 April | 26 April | 29th Rally Argentina | Carlos Paz, Córdoba | Gravel | 23 | 331.80 km | PWRC/JWRC |
6 | 22 May | 24 May | 6th Rally d'Italia Sardinia | Olbia, Sardinia | Gravel | 17 | 347.12 km | PWRC/JWRC |
7 | 12 June | 14 June | 56th Acropolis Rally of Greece | Loutraki, Corinthia | Gravel | 17 | 371.02 km | PWRC |
8 | 25 June | 28 June | 66th Orlen Platinum Rally Poland - Rajd Polski | Mikołajki, Mrągowo County | Gravel | 18 | 352.00 km | JWRC |
9 | 30 July | 2 August | 59th Neste Oil Rally Finland | Jyväskylä, Central Finland | Gravel | 23 | 345.15 km | JWRC |
10 | 3 September | 6 September | 20th Repco Rally Australia | Kingscliff, New South Wales | Gravel | 35 | 344.72 km | PWRC |
11 | 2 October | 4 October | 45th RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada | Salou, Catalonia | Tarmac | 18 | 353.62 km | JWRC |
12 | 23 October | 25 October | 65th Rally of Great Britain | Cardiff, Wales | Gravel | 16 | 348.30 km | PWRC |
Sources: [3] |
The 2009 season included twelve rallies, which was three fewer than the 2008 season, because the FIA imposed a "Round Rotation" System in order to attract candidate rallies to have a chance to be a WRC event. Monte Carlo, Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, Germany, New Zealand, France and Japan were dropped from the calendar for 2009, but will return at the 2010 WRC Season. Ireland, Norway, Cyprus, Portugal, Poland and Australia returned to the 2009 season.
The eight events also part of the Production World Rally Championship were Norway, Cyprus, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, Greece, Australia and Rally GB. The eight rallies also on the Junior World Rally Championship schedule were Ireland, Cyprus, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, Poland, Finland and Spain.
In 2009 two categories are eligible to compete for the Manufacturer's championship:
Manufacturer (M)
Manufacturer Team (MT)
The registered Manufacturers are Citroën Total World Rally Team and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team; the registered Manufacturer Teams are Stobart VK M-Sport Ford, Munchi's Ford and Citroën Junior Team.
Suzuki and Subaru pulled out of the WRC at the end of the 2008 championship, both citing the economic downturn then affecting the automotive industry for their withdrawal.
No | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Rounds |
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31 | Aaron Burkart | Michael Kölbach | Suzuki Swift S1600 | 1, 3, 5–6, 9, 11 |
32 | Michał Kościuszko | Maciek Szczepaniak | Suzuki Swift S1600 | 3–6, 8–9 |
33 | Simone Bertolotti | Luca Celestini | Suzuki Swift S1600 | 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 |
34 | Luca Griotti | Corrado Bonato | Renault Clio R3 | 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 |
35 | Yoann Bonato | Benjamin Boulloud | Suzuki Swift S1600 | 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 |
36 | Hans Weijs, Jr. | Bjorn Degandt | Citroën C2 S1600 | 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 |
37 | Kevin Abbring | Erwin Mombaerts | Renault Clio R3 | 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 |
38 | Martin Prokop | Jan Tománek | Citroën C2 S1600 | 1, 3, 6, 8–9, 11 |
39 | Alessandro Bettega | Simone Scattolin | Renault Clio S1600 | 5 |
Renault Clio R3 | 4, 6, 8 | |||
Mark Wallenwein | Stefan Kopczyk | 9, 11 | ||
Additional guest entries † | ||||
60 | Ross Forde | Arron Forde | Suzuki Swift Sport | 1 |
59 | Radosław Typa | Maciek Wislawski | Citroën C2 R2 | 8 |
60 | Marcin Dobrowolski | Michal Dobrowolski | Citroën C2 R2 | 8 |
59 | Kalle Pinomaki | Matti Kaskinen | Renault Clio R3 | 9 |
59 | Jordi Martí | Gabriel Sánchez | Renault Clio R3 | 11 |
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The World Rally Championship is an international rallying series owned and governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the second oldest of the FIA's world championships after Formula One. Each season lasts one calendar year, and separate championship titles are awarded to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers. There are also two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower maximum performance and running costs of the cars permitted. Junior WRC is also contested on five events of the World Rally Championship calendar.
The FIA Junior WRC Championship, is an international rallying series restricted to drivers under 29 years old, running within the framework of the World Rally Championship. The series is governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and promoted by M-Sport Ltd.
Mikko Hirvonen is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2006 and 2007. In 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 he finished runner-up to Sébastien Loeb. Hirvonen's co-driver was Jarmo Lehtinen from the 2003 season until his retirement in 2014, Lehtinen had replaced Miikka Anttila who co-drove with Hirvonen in the 2002 season.
The 2005 World Rally Championship was the 33rd season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on January 21 with the Monte-Carlo Rally and ended on November 13 with the Rally Australia.
The 2004 World Rally Championship was the 32nd season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 16 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Sébastien Loeb in a Citroën Xsara WRC, ahead of Petter Solberg and Markko Märtin. The manufacturers' title was won by Citroën, ahead of Ford and Subaru.
The 2003 World Rally Championship was the 31st season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Petter Solberg in a Subaru Impreza WRC, ahead of Sébastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz. The manufacturers' title was won by Citroën, ahead of Peugeot and Subaru.
The 2006 World Rally Championship was the 34th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on January 20 with the 74th Monte Carlo Rally where Finland's Marcus Grönholm, in a Ford Focus RS WRC, took the win ahead of France's Sébastien Loeb. After the Swedish Rally ended with the same top-two, Loeb and Kronos Citroën went on to win five rallies in a row. Despite an injury in a mountain-biking accident before the Rally of Turkey, forcing Loeb to miss last four rallies, he secured his third drivers' title, whereas Ford won their first manufacturers' title since 1979.
The 2007 World Rally Championship was the 35th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on 19 January, with the Monte Carlo Rally and ended on 2 December, with the Wales Rally GB. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb won his fourth consecutive drivers' world championship ahead of Ford's Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen. Ford took the manufacturers' title.
The Ford World Rally Team, also known as the Ford Motor Co. Team prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Company's full factory World Rally Championship team. In its current form, it has been a competitor since the 1997 season, when Ford Motor Company's motorsport arm selected the Malcolm Wilson Motorsport company to run its factory team, entering the Ford Escort World Rally Car. The new team took their first victory in the 1997 Acropolis Rally.
The Citroën C4 WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Citroën C4 road car and replaced the Citroën Xsara WRC. The car was introduced for the 2007 World Rally Championship season and took the drivers' title in all four seasons it participated in at the hands of Sébastien Loeb between 2007 and 2010, as well as the manufacturers' title in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
The Citroën Xsara WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based on the Citroën Xsara road car. The car was introduced for the 2001 World Rally Championship season and has taken the first three of nine drivers' titles for Sébastien Loeb, as well as the manufacturers' title in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
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The Citroën Total World Rally Team was the Citroën factory backed entry into the World Rally Championship (WRC), run by Citroën Racing.
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The 2011 World Rally Championship was the 39th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies, beginning with Rally Sweden on 10 February and ended with Wales Rally GB on 13 November.
The 2013 FIA World Rally Championship was the 41st season of the World Rally Championship, a rallying championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the highest class of international rallying. The season was run over 13 rallies, starting with the Rallye Monte Carlo on 16 January, and finishing with the Wales Rally of Great Britain on 17 November. Volkswagen entered the series as a constructor with the Polo R WRC, while Ford and Mini ended their factory support for the Fiesta RS WRC and John Cooper Works WRC respectively, though both continued to make their cars available to customer teams.
The Volkswagen Polo R WRC is a World Rally Car built and operated by Volkswagen Motorsport and based on the Volkswagen Polo for use in the World Rally Championship. The car, which made its début at the start of the 2013 season, is built to the second generation of World Rally Car regulations that were introduced in 2011, which are based upon the existing Super 2000 regulations, but powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine rather than the naturally aspirated 2-litre engine found in Super 2000 cars.
The 2014 FIA World Rally Championship was the 42nd season of the World Rally Championship, a rallying championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and drivers contested thirteen rallies across four continents, competing for the FIA World Rally Championships for Drivers and Manufacturers. The WRC-2, WRC-3 and Junior WRC championships all ran in support of the premier championship.
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