2009 Rally Finland

The 2009 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the 59th running of the Rally Finland and the ninth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was won by Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. This marked his third victory in a row and his first in his home event. Last year's winner Sébastien Loeb of Citroën finished second and took his first podium since the Rally Argentina back in April. Jari-Matti Latvala beat Dani Sordo to the final podium spot.

2009 Rally Finland
59th Neste Oil Rally Finland
Round 9 of the 2009 World Rally Championship
← Previous eventNext event →
Host country Finland
Rally baseJyväskylä
Dates run30 July – 2 August 2009
Stages23 (345.15 km; 214.47 miles)
Stage surfaceGravel
Results
Overall winner Mikko Hirvonen
BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT
Crews90 at start, 61 at finish

Entries

The final entry list included 90 crews – the highest number in any event this season. 18 drivers contested the event in the top category World Rally Car and ten were registered for the Junior World Rally Championship.[1] In addition to usual names, Matti Rantanen, who finished seventh in last year's event in a private Ford Focus RS WRC 06, partnered Federico Villagra in the Munchi's Ford World Rally Team and drove the 2008-spec Focus WRC.[2]

Ferrari's 2007 Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen made his WRC debut at the event. This was also his first rally on gravel, after competing in two snow rallies in Finland and in a tarmac rally in Italy. As previously, he drove the Super 2000 class Fiat Grande Punto Abarth prepared by Tommi Mäkinen Racing.[3] Räikkönen faced competition from other S2000 entrants such as Juho Hänninen, Anton Alén and Janne Tuohino and from Group N drivers such as Patrik Flodin. Former Stobart M-Sport Ford driver Urmo Aava entered the event in a Honda Civic Type-R R3.[1]

Entry List
No. Driver Co-driver Entrant Car Gr. Cl.
1 Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën Total World Rally Team Citroën C4 WRC A 8
2 Daniel Sordo Marc Martí Citroën Total World Rally Team Citroën C4 WRC A 8
3 Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 09 A 8
4 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 09 A 8
5 Matthew Wilson Scott Martin Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 A 8
6 Henning Solberg Cato Menkerud Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 A 8
7 Evgeny Novikov Dale Moscatt Citroën Junior Team Citroën C4 WRC A 8
8 Conrad Rautenbach Daniel Barritt Citroën Junior Team Citroën C4 WRC A 8
9 Federico Villagra Jorge Perez Companc Munchi's Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 A 8
10 Matti Rantanen Mikko Lukka Munchi's Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 A 8
11 Petter Solberg Phil Mills Petter Solberg MSN Citroën Xsara WRC A 8
12 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën Junior Team Citroën C4 WRC A 8
14 Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson Adapta AS Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 A 8
15 Khalid Al-Qassimi Michael Orr BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 A 8
16 Jari Ketomaa Mika Stenberg Ketomaa WRT Subaru Impreza WRC 2007 A 8
17 Jukka Ketomäki Kai Risberg Kai Risberg Škoda Octavia WRC Evo3 A 8
31 Aaron Burkart Michael Kölbach Aaron Burkart Suzuki Swift S1600 A 6
32 Michał Kościuszko Maciej Szczepaniak Michał Kościuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 A 6
33 Simone Bertolotti Luca Celestini Simone Bertolotti Suzuki Swift S1600 A 6
34 Luca Griotti Corrado Bonato Luca Griotti Renault Clio R3 A 7
35 Yoann Bonato Benjamin Boulloud Yoann Bonato Suzuki Swift S1600 A 6
36 Hans Weijs Björn Degandt KNAF Talent First Team Holland Citroën C2 S1600 A 6
37 Kevin Abbring Erwin Mombaerts KNAF Talent First Team Holland Renault Clio R3 A 7
38 Martin Prokop Jan Tománek Czech National Team Citroën C2 S1600 A 6
39 Mark Wallenwein Stefan Kopczyk TRT Srl. Renault Clio R3 A 7
59 Kalle Pinomäki Matti Kaskinen Kalle Pinomäki Renault Clio R3 A 7
61 Nicos Thomas Angelos Loizides Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X N 4
62 Jon Williams George Gwynn Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X N 4
63 Jarkko Nikara Jarkko Kalliolepo Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X N 4
64 Martin Semerád Bohuslav Ceplecha Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X N 4
65 Mark Tapper Jeff Judd Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X N 4
66 Juho Hänninen Mikko Markkula Juho Hänninen Škoda Fabia S2000 N 4
67 Anton Alén Timo Alanne Anton Alén Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 N 4
68 Patrik Flodin Göran Bergsten Uspenskiy Rally Tecnica Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
69 Janne Tuohino Markku Tuohino Janne Tuohino Peugeot 207 S2000 N 4
70 Kimi Räikkönen Kaj Lindström Kimi Räikkönen Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 N 4
71 Jouni Arolainen Risto Pietiläinen Jouni Arolainen Ford Focus RS WRC 04 A 8
72 Mattias Therman Janne Perälä Munchi's Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 A 8
73 Sveinung Bieltvedt Roger Eilertsen Sveinung Bieltvedt Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
74 Ott Tänak Kristo Kraag Ott Tänak Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
75 Urmo Aava Kuldar Sikk Urmo Aava Honda Civic Type-R R3 A 7
76 Ari Laivola Kari Mustalahti Ari Laivola Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N 4
77 Jukka Metsälä Sari Ohra-aho Jukka Metsälä Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X N 4
78 Radik Shaymiev Timur Kafarov Radik Shaymiev Peugeot 207 S2000 N 4
79 Reijo Muhonen Timo Mäenpää Reijo Muhonen Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N 4
80 Petri Lehtovirta Juha Kanerva Petri Lehtovirta Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N 4
81 Pekka Savela Ville Mäkelä Pekka Savela Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N 4
82 Jukka Hara Petteri Luostarinen Jukka Hara Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
83 Ville Silvasti Jani Rauhala Jani Rauhala Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
84 Timo Pulkkinen Lasse Miettinen Timo Pulkkinen Subaru Impreza WRX STi A 8
85 Pekka Vihma Kim Niemelä Pekka Vihma Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N 4
86 Jarmo Komsi Pasi Karppinen Jarmo Komsi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N 4
87 Kai Ahola Peter Flythström Kai Ahola Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII A 8
88 Fabio Frisiero Jordi Barrabés Costa Fabio Frisiero Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N 4
89 Georg Gross Raigo Mõlder Georg Gross Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
90 Tomi Weurlander Veijo Vyörykkä Tomi Weurlander Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII N 4
91 Jukka Kihlman Harri Kihlman Jukka Kihlman Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
92 Jouni Virtanen Jussi Martiskin Jouni Virtanen Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
93 Tony Ahti Mika Joensuu Tony Ahti Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX N 4
94 Asko Mäkinen Veli-Matti Haljala Asko Mäkinen Subaru Impreza WRX STi N 4
95 Axel Lindholm Timo Hantunen Axel Lindholm Honda Civic Type-R N 3
96 Silvano Pintarelli Mauro Marchioni Silvano Pintarelli Renault Clio R3 A 7
97 Craig Breen Gareth Roberts Craig Breen Ford Fiesta ST N 3
98 Patrick Anglade Björn Röhm Patrick Anglade Ford Fiesta ST N 3
99 Jussi Kumpumäki Mikael Korhonen Jussi Kumpumäki Ford Fiesta ST N 3
100 Emre Yurdakul Burak Erdener Castrol Ford Team Turkiye Ford Fiesta ST N 3
101 Burcu Cetinkaya Cicek Guney Castrol Ford Team Turkiye Ford Fiesta ST N 3
102 Bader Al-Jabri Stephen McAuley Team Abu Dhabi Ford Fiesta ST N 3
103 Majed Al-Shamsi Allan Harryman Team Abu Dhabi Ford Fiesta ST N 3
104 Denis Grodetskiy Safoniy Lotko Cueks Racing Ford Fiesta ST N 3
105 Ahmed Al-Mansoori Killian Duffy Team Abu Dhabi Ford Fiesta ST N 3
106 Timo Pitkäniemi Ossi Lehtonen Timo Pitkäniemi Renault Clio RS N 3
107 Fabrizio de Sanctis Sergio Biancolli Fabrizio de Sanctis Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI A 8
108 Daniel Cambon Valerie Antherieu Daniel Cambon Renault Clio RS N 3
109 Jari Laakso Jari Tarvainen Jari Laakso Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
110 Ville Ruokanen Timo Pallari Ville Ruokanen Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
111 Kari Hytönen Ismo Pietiläinen Kari Hytönen Suzuki Swift Sport N 2
112 Ilkka Kariste Toni Valovaara Ilkka Kariste Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
113 Mikael Wikstedt Hannu Rokkanen Mikael Wikstedt Škoda Fabia 1.4 16V A 5
114 Jouko Pulkkinen Petri Hänninen Jouko Pulkkinen Volkswagen Polo GTi N 2
115 Toni Harsia Timo Kekkonen Toni Harsia Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
116 Teemu Horkama Sami Sarjula Teemu Horkama Škoda Felicia 1.3 A 5
117 Patrik Ottosson Stefan Ottosson Patrik Ottosson Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
118 Raimo Kaisanlahti Tapani Pulkkinen Raimo Kaisanlahti Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
119 Tomi Vilenius Sami Ryynänen Tomi Vilenius Ford Puma Kit Car A 5
120 Matti Tuominen Pekka Leppälä Matti Tuominen Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
121 Pasi Laaksomaa Susanna Söyrilä Pasi Laaksomaa Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
122 Nick West Chris Melling Nick West Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V A 5
123 Adrian Linton Jonathan Linton Jonathan Linton Opel Astra OPC N 3
124 Juhani Länsikorpi Pasi Haataja Juhani Länsikorpi Toyota Yaris A 5

Summary
Petter Solberg on the Killeri super special stage

As in the previous year's event, the battle for the win was between the title contenders Mikko Hirvonen of Ford and Sébastien Loeb of Citroën. Although Loeb proved faster on the opening super special stage, Hirvonen took the lead when the rally really got underway on Friday, and began building up a lead by about a second per stage. Loeb backed off and settled for second after damaging a tyre and losing 13 seconds on SS15. Hirvonen's win was his first in his home event, after finishing runner-up to Marcus Grönholm in 2007 and to Loeb in 2008. Jari-Matti Latvala, who suffered from food poisoning on day two, passed Dani Sordo to take his first podium in his home event. Petter Solberg also looked set to challenge for a podium place, but suffered a puncture and then went wide and got stuck in a ditch right at the end of the fourth stage.[4]

Red Bull Rally Team's Juho Hänninen won the Group N class in a Škoda Fabia S2000.

Munchi's Ford driver Matti Rantanen took a career-best fifth place in only his second rally in a World Rally Car. After Stobart's Henning Solberg, Rantanen's main challenger for the position, retired with a broken suspension, Rantanen was chased down by Citroën Junior Team's Sébastien Ogier. Ogier closed to within 0.6 seconds before the final stage but a time only 0.3 seconds faster than Rantanen's kept him in sixth place.[5] Ogier's teammates Evgeny Novikov and Conrad Rautenbach both crashed out. Novikov crashed on both Friday and Saturday mornings while Rautenbach held ninth place until his accident on the penultimate stage.

Jari Ketomaa made his World Rally Car debut in a private Subaru Impreza WRC2007 and was another driver to challenge for fifth, the "best of the rest" position. He incurred a puncture and struggled with steering damage on Friday, losing over a minute, but recovered to overtake Stobart's Matthew Wilson for eighth and then began closing in on Mads Østberg in a year newer Impreza WRC. As the Norwegian crashed out on SS19, Ketomaa took the seventh place and his first-ever WRC points, and Wilson eighth and his first-ever point in the Rally Finland. Khalid al-Qassimi finished ninth and production class winner Juho Hänninen beat Munchi's Federico Villagra for tenth place. Martin Prokop won the Junior World Rally Championship category and secured the junior world title.[6] Crowd favourite Kimi Räikkönen impressed in his WRC debut. Despite engine trouble, he held third place in the production class until rolling out at exactly the same place as Østberg. Räikkönen's performance drew praise from the top rally drivers.[7]

Results
Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points
WRC
1 Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 09 2:50:40.9 0.0 10
2 Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 2:51:06.0 +25.1 8
3 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 09 2:51:30.8 +49.9 6
4 Dani Sordo Marc Martí Citroën C4 WRC 2:51:47.0 +1:06.1 5
5 Matti Rantanen Mikko Lukka Ford Focus RS WRC 08 2:54:59.1 +4:18.2 4
6 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën C4 WRC 2:54:59.4 +4:18.5 3
7 Jari Ketomaa Mika Stenberg Subaru Impreza WRC 2007 2:55:48.4 +5:07.5 2
8 Matthew Wilson Scott Martin Ford Focus RS WRC 08 2:57:14.5 +6:33.6 1
JWRC
1 Martin Prokop Jan Tománek Citroën C2 S1600 3:17:03.1 0.0 10
2 Kalle Pinomäki Matti Kaskinen Renault Clio R3 3:17:58.6 +55.5 8
3 Michał Kościuszko Maciek Szczepaniak Suzuki Swift S1600 3:20:24.0 +3:20.9 6
4 Aaron Nikolai Burkart Michael Kölbach Suzuki Swift S1600 3:20:53.5 +3:50.4 5
5 Mark Wallenwein Stefan Kopczyk Renault Clio R3 3:30:28.6 +13:25.5 4
6 Simone Bertolotti Luca Celestini Suzuki Swift S1600 3:34:19.0 +17:15.9 3
7 Hans Weijs, Jr. Bjorn Degandt Citroën C2 S1600 3:51:17.8 +34:14.7 2

Special stages
Day Stage Time (EEST) Name Length Winner Time Rally leader
1 (30-31 Jul) SS1 19:00 Killeri 1 2.06 km Sébastien Loeb 1:20.3 Sébastien Loeb
SS2 7:38 Jukojärvi 1 22.29 km Mikko Hirvonen 10:36.2 Mikko Hirvonen
SS3 8:11 Kruununperä 1 13.51 km Mikko Hirvonen 6:29.9
SS4 8:59 Mökkiperä 1 13.64 km Sébastien Loeb 6:42.2
SS5 9:46 Palsankylä 1 13.92 km Sébastien Loeb 7:06.7
SS6 13:02 Jukojärvi 2 22.29 km Mikko Hirvonen 10:25.2
SS7 13:35 Kruununperä 2 13.51 km Mikko Hirvonen 6:22.3
SS8 14:23 Mökkiperä 2 13.64 km Sébastien Loeb 6:37.0
SS9 15:10 Palsankylä 2 13.92 km Sébastien Loeb 7:01.6
SS10 20:00 Killeri 2 2.06 km Sébastien Loeb 1:20.2
2 (1 Aug) SS11 7:13 Leustu 1 21.35 km Mikko Hirvonen 10:04.8
SS12 8:02 Himos 1 20.94 km Mikko Hirvonen 10:31.7
SS13 9:25 Surkee 1 14.95 km Mikko Hirvonen 8:01.2
SS14 11:37 Leustu 2 21.35 km Mikko Hirvonen 10:03.4
SS15 12:26 Himos 2 20.94 km Mikko Hirvonen 10:35.4
SS16 13:49 Surkee 2 14.95 km Jari-Matti Latvala 7:59.7
SS17 16:11 Urria 12.75 km Mikko Hirvonen 5:55.5
SS18 17:19 Kavala 10.35 km Jari-Matti Latvala
Sébastien Ogier		 5:10.1
SS19 17:52 Väärinmaja 29.29 km Jari-Matti Latvala 14:56.3
3 (2 Aug) SS20 8:17 Hannula 10.82 km Jari-Matti Latvala 5:41.1
SS21 8:58 Myhinpää 1 15.06 km Sébastien Loeb 6:59.1
SS22 10:51 Myhinpää 2 15.06 km Jari-Matti Latvala 6:52.1
SS23 12:18 Ruuhimäki 6.5 km Jari-Matti Latvala 3:12.4

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship
Pos Driver IRL
 NOR
 CYP
 POR
 ARG
 ITA
 GRC
 POL
 FIN
 AUS
 ESP
 GBR
  Pts 
1 Mikko Hirvonen 3 2 2 2 Ret 2 1 1 1 68
2 Sébastien Loeb 1 1 1 1 1 4 Ret 7 2 65
3 Dani Sordo 2 5 4 3 2 23 12 2 4 44
4 Jari-Matti Latvala 14 3 12 Ret 6 1 3 Ret 3 31
5 Henning Solberg 4 4 18 5 3 8 15 3 30 27
6 Petter Solberg 6 3 4 Ret 3 Ret 4 Ret 25
7 Matthew Wilson 7 7 5 Ret 5 6 14 5 8 20
8 Sébastien Ogier 6 10 Ret 17 7 Ret 2 Ret 6 16
9 Federico Villagra 7 7 4 Ret 4 11 14
10 Conrad Rautenbach 18 Ret 6 Ret Ret 9 5 8 Ret 8
11 Mads Østberg 9 6 7 7 Ret Ret 7
12 Khalid al-Qassimi 8 8 8 16 6 9 6
13 Evgeny Novikov 12 Ret Ret 5 16 9 Ret 4
Chris Atkinson 5 4
Matti Rantanen 5 4
16 Krzysztof Hołowczyc 6 3
17 Jari Ketomaa 7 2
18 Nasser Al-Attiyah 11 16 8 10 9 1
Urmo Aava 10 8 29 1
Lambros Athanassoulas 8 1
Pos Driver IRL
 NOR
 CYP
 POR
 ARG
 ITA
 GRC
 POL
 FIN
 AUS
 ESP
 GBR
 Pts
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship
Pos Team Event Total
points
IRL
 NOR
 CYP
 POR
 ARG
 ITA
 GRC
 POL
 FIN
 AUS
 ESP
 GBR
1 Citroën Total World Rally Team 1814161618841213 119
2 BP Ford World Rally Team 814108318181016 105
3 Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 88651075114 64
4 Citroën Junior Team 524025654 33
5 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 003450602 20

References
  1. "Finland sets standard with 90 on entry list". Crash.net. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  2. Evans, David (26 June 2009). "Munchi's adds Rantanen for Finland". Autosport. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  3. Evans, David (29 June 2009). "Raikkonen to contest Rally Finland". Autosport. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  4. "Finland SS4 – Loeb fastest as Petter hits trouble". Rally-Live.com. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  5. Beer, Matt (2 August 2009). "Hirvonen secures Finland win". Autosport. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  6. "Prokop wins J-WRC title with Finnish victory". Rally-Live.com. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  7. "Top rally drivers praise Raikkonen WRC debut". Motorsport.com. 3 August 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
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