Jari-Matti Latvala with Miikka Anttila - Ford Focus WRC - BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally TeamSORILLIS , Italy : May 24, 2009 - Finn Jari-Matti Latvala has won the 2009 Rally d’Italia after a riveting three days of competition on the scorching roads of Sardinia
Latvala, 24, led the rally from start to finish in his Ford Focus RS WRC, despite a disadvantageous road position on Saturday and Sunday, which put him first though the slippery gravel stages.
Today’s win was the second for Latvala, who became the youngest ever winner of a World Championship Rally on Rally Sweden last year.
Latvala won the event by 29.4sec from his own team-mate Mikko Hirvonen - giving the BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team a perfect one, two result and a maximum 18 points in the manufacturer’s championship.
As stopped at the finish control after SS17, an elated Latvala leapt from his car and ran around to kiss his car’s bonnet. “It’s such a relief!” he said. “I want to say thanks to the team and to [team principal] Malcolm for letting me do this. It’s a great thing for me to win this rally and also for the team with a one, two. It’s been unbelievable, but I’ve been lucky too. I’ve made mistakes earlier this year, so this win has come at a very important time.”
Hirvonen was next to complete the stage and immediately went to hug and congratulate his team-mate. “It looks like second place is my destiny,” joked Mikko. “We had a good rally, with a really good fight but this is how it is. Jari-Matti definitely deserves this result so that’s fine.”
Citroen Total team driver Sebastien Loeb finished third, 1min 43.7sec behind Latvala. After watching his record-breaking run of six consecutive WRC wins come to an end with his worst result since November 2008, the Frenchman said he was relieved to get to the end of the event.
“Third place means we keep the championship lead, and we lose only two points to Mikko, so for the moment that looks okay,” said Loeb. “It’s good to finally get a result here after all the trouble it has caused. It just didn’t work out for us this weekend. Everything we tried didn’t work, so after all that third place isn’t too bad.”
Citroen privateer Petter Solberg finished fourth in his Xsara WRC. “It was exciting today but the car didn’t feel right out of service and we lost out to Loeb,” he said. “My car was overheating again towards the end and in these temperatures this is the best I could do. Overall it’s been an excellent rally. The team have been great and we’ve shown consistency. I though maybe I could get third today. It’s not bad though.”
Citroen Junior team driver Evgeny Novikov rounded off the top five places in his C4 WRC. The result was a career best for the 18-year-old Russian. “It was a very good rally for me and we had a lot of fun,” said Novikov. “Next I want to get a factory team drive and to win the World Rally Championship!”
2009 WRC Round 6 : Rally d’Italia - Sardegna Race Result
Pos | No | Driver | Time | Diff Next | Diff 1st |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 4 | Jari-Matti LATVALA | 4:00:55.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
2. | 3 | Mikko HIRVONEN | 4:01:25.1 | +29.4 | +29.4 |
3. | 11 | Petter SOLBERG | 4:02:53.3 | +1:28.2 | +1:57.6 |
4. | 1 | Sébastien LOEB | 4:04:39.4 | +1:46.1 | +3:43.7 |
5. | 7 | Evgeny NOVIKOV | 4:06:07.5 | +1:28.1 | +5:11.8 |
6. | 5 | Matthew WILSON | 4:08:25.0 | +2:17.5 | +7:29.3 |
7. | 21 | Mads ÖSTBERG | 4:14:16.3 | +5:51.3 | +13:20.6 |
8. | 6 | Henning SOLBERG | 4:14:16.9 | +0.6 | +13:21.2 |
9. | 8 | Conrad RAUTENBACH | 4:20:26.8 | +6:09.9 | +19:31.1 |
10. | 150 | Nasser AL-ATTIYAH | 4:20:39.4 | +12.6 | +19:43.7 |
11. | 146 | Patrik SANDELL | 4:20:40.9 | +1.5 | +19:45.2 |
12. | 63 | Jarkko NIKARA | 4:22:13.1 | +1:32.2 | +21:17.4 |
13. | 38 | Martin PROKOP | 4:23:40.6 | +1:27.5 | +22:44.9 |
14. | 32 | Michal KOSCIUSZKO | 4:23:53.8 | +13.2 | +22:58.1 |
15. | 147 | Armindo ARAUJO | 4:24:23.5 | +29.7 | +23:27.8 |
16. | 10 | Khalid AL QASSIMI | 4:24:54.3 | +30.8 | +23:58.6 |
17. | 145 | Patrick FLODIN | 4:27:14.9 | +2:20.6 | +26:19.2 |
18. | 31 | Aaron Nicolai BURKART | 4:31:55.4 | +4:40.5 | +30:59.7 |
19. | 149 | Eyvind BRYNILDSEN | 4:34:37.9 | +2:42.5 | +33:42.2 |
20. | 35 | Yoann BONATO | 4:34:45.2 | +7.2 | +33:49.4 |
Drivers' championship standings after 6 rounds
| Pos | Driver | Team | Point |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastien LOEB (F) | Citroen Total World Rally Team | 55 |
| 2 | Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN) | BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | 38 |
| 3 | Dani SORDO (E) | Citroen Total World Rally Team | 31 |
| 4 | Henning SOLBERG (N) | Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 21 |
| 5 | Petter SOLBERG (N) | Petter Solberg Rally Team M-Sport | 20 |
| 6 | Jari-Matti LATVALA (FIN) | Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 19 |
| 7 | Matthew WILSON (GB) | Citroen Junior Team | 15 |
| 8 | Federico VILLAGRA (ARG) | BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | 9 |
| 9 | Sebastien OGIER (F) | Citroen Junior Team | 5 |
| 10 | Mads OSTBERG(N) | Adapta World Rally Team | 5 |
| 11 | Chris Atkinson (AUS) | Citroen Junior Team | 4 |
| 12 | Evgeny NOVIKOV (RUS) | Citroen Junior Team | 3 |
| 13 | Conrad RAUTENBACH (ZW) | Adapta World Rally Team | 3 |
| 14 | Khalid AL QASSIMI (UAE) | BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | 3 |
| 15 | Urmo AAVA (EE) | Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 1 |
| 16 | Nasser AL-ATTIYAH(QA) | Barwa Rally Team | 1 |
Manufacturers' championship standings after 6 rounds
| Pos | Team | Point |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Citroen Total World Rally Team | 89 |
| 2 | BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | 61 |
| 3 | Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 44 |
| 4 | Citroen Junior Team | 20 |
| 5 | Munchi's Ford World Rally Team | 12 |
Images : 2009 WRC Rally d’Italia - Sardegna Hi-light
[Source : WRC, FORD, CITROEN]
ความคิดเห็น
0 Responses to "2009 WRC : Latvala wins Rally d’Italia - Sardegna!"Post a Comment