2009 Rally GB

2009 Rally GB
Round 12 of the 2009 World Rally Championship ← Previous event
Sébastien Loeb to record sixth successive world rally title.
Host country	Great Britain
Dates run	23 – 25 October 2009
Stages	16
Statistics
Crews	61 at start, 51 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Sébastien Loeb Citroën Total WRT

The 2009 Rally GB was the 12th and last round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the 65th running of the Rally of Great Britain. The rally consisted of 16 special stages.

Sébastien Loeb claimed victory to record a sixth successive world rally title.^[1]

Report

Sébastien Loeb secured his sixth world title with a win at the season finale in Wales. His rival Mikko Hirvonen had to settle for second place and thus buried his dream of his first world title. Loeb came to Wales a point behind World Cup leaders Hirvonen. So the starting position was clear. The one who finishes ahead of the other in points is world champion.

Loeb and Hirvonen fought a second duel at the top on the first day. Loeb took the lead in the first stage. Hirvonen kept getting close, but couldn't dislodge him from the lead. The preliminary decision was made on Saturday morning. On stages eight and nine, Hirvonen struggled to find the right pace and lost time. The gap grew to 25 seconds. So Loeb went into the final Sunday with a lead of 30.2 seconds. However, Hirvonen did not give up and reduced the gap to Loeb to 18.2 seconds in the first two special stages.

On the penultimate special stage, the bonnet of Hirvonen's Ford came off. On a full-throttle section, it flipped up and blocked the Finn's view. Hirvonen had to stop and remove the hood. That took him about a minute. Although Loeb had turbo problems on the last special stage, Hirvonen was no longer able to catch up with the Frenchman. Hirvonen was able to defend second place overall against Daniel Sordo, who finished third just behind him.

Results

Pos.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time (BST/GMT)	Penalty	Difference	Points
WRC
1	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën C4 WRC	3:16:25.4		0.0	10
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Focus RS WRC 09	3:17:31.5		+1:06.1	8
3	Dani Sordo	Marc Martí	Citroën C4 WRC	3:17:32.5		+1:07.1	6
4	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	Citroën C4 WRC	3:17:53.5		+1:28.1	5
5	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:22:53.4		+6:28.0	4
6	Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:24:11.4		+7:46.0	3
7	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:28:37.3		+12:11.9	2
8	Conrad Rautenbach	Daniel Barritt	Citroën C4 WRC	3:30:53.2		+14:27.8	1
PWRC
1							10
2							8
3							6
4							5
5							4

Special stages

Day	Stage	Time (BST) (23-24 October) (GMT) (25 October)	Name	Length	Winner	Time	Rally leader
1 (23 Oct)	SS1	9:23	Hafren 1	32.14 km	Sébastien Loeb	18:30.2	Sébastien Loeb
	SS2	10:04	Sweet Lamb 1	5.13 km	Sébastien Loeb	3:23.7
	SS3	10:22	Myherin 1	27.88 km	Sébastien Loeb	15:29.3
	SS4	13:31	Hafren 2	32.14 km	Mikko Hirvonen	18:49.8
	SS5	14:12	Sweet Lamb 2	5.13 km	Sébastien Loeb	3:24.1
	SS6	14:30	Myherin 2	27.88 km	Mikko Hirvonen	15:39.0
2 (24 Oct)	SS7	8:35	Rhondda 1	35.72 km	Mikko Hirvonen	19:30.0
	SS8	10:26	Crychan 1	14.99 km	Sébastien Loeb	8:34.4
	SS9	10:54	Halfway 1	18.37 km	Sébastien Loeb	10:19.6
	SS10	15:00	Rhondda 2	35.72 km	Mikko Hirvonen	19:07.9
	SS11	16:51	Crychan 2	14.99 km	Sébastien Loeb	8:44.9
	SS12	17:	Halfway 2	18.37 km	Sébastien Loeb	10:38.0
3 (25 Oct)	SS13	8:28	Port Talbot 1	17.41 km	Mikko Hirvonen	9:00.2
	SS14	9:27	Rheola 1	22.51 km	Mikko Hirvonen	12:34.3
	SS15	10:56	Port Talbot 2	17.41 km	Sébastien Loeb	9:11.9
	SS16	11:55	Rheola 2	22.51 km	Mikko Hirvonen	12:46.0

References

External links

• Official website