2009 Rally Finland
Introduction 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.
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. 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.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. 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.===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 stageAs 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.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. 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. 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.
Results Pos.DriverCo-driverCarTimeDifferencePoints 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 DayStageTime (EEST)NameLengthWinnerTimeRally leader1 (30-31 Jul) SS1 19:00Killeri 1 2.06 km  Sébastien Loeb 1:20.3  Sébastien Loeb SS2 7:38Jukojärvi 1 22.29 km  Mikko Hirvonen 10:36.2  Mikko Hirvonen SS3 8:11Kruununperä 1 13.51 km  Mikko Hirvonen 6:29.9 SS4 8:59Mökkiperä 1 13.64 km  Sébastien Loeb 6:42.2 SS5 9:46Palsankylä 1 13.92 km  Sébastien Loeb 7:06.7 SS6 13:02Jukojärvi 2 22.29 km  Mikko Hirvonen 10:25.2 SS7 13:35Kruununperä 2 13.51 km  Mikko Hirvonen 6:22.3 SS8 14:23Mökkiperä 2 13.64 km  Sébastien Loeb 6:37.0 SS9 15:10Palsankylä 2 13.92 km  Sébastien Loeb 7:01.6 SS10 20:00Killeri 2 2.06 km  Sébastien Loeb 1:20.22 (1 Aug) SS11 7:13Leustu 1 21.35 km  Mikko Hirvonen 10:04.8 SS12 8:02Himos 1 20.94 km  Mikko Hirvonen 10:31.7 SS13 9:25Surkee 1 14.95 km  Mikko Hirvonen 8:01.2 SS14 11:37Leustu 2 21.35 km  Mikko Hirvonen 10:03.4 SS15 12:26Himos 2 20.94 km  Mikko Hirvonen 10:35.4 SS16 13:49Surkee 2 14.95 km  Jari-Matti Latvala 7:59.7 SS17 16:11Urria 12.75 km  Mikko Hirvonen 5:55.5 SS18 17:19Kavala 10.35 km  Jari-Matti Latvala Sébastien Ogier 5:10.1 SS19 17:52Väärinmaja 29.29 km Jari-Matti Latvala 14:56.33 (2 Aug) SS20 8:17Hannula 10.82 km Jari-Matti Latvala 5:41.1 SS21 8:58Myhinpää 1 15.06 km Sébastien Loeb 6:59.1 SS22 10:51Myhinpää 2 15.06 km Jari-Matti Latvala 6:52.1 SS23 12:18Ruuhimäki 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===Manufacturers' championship=== Pos Team Event Totalpoints IRL NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRC POL FIN AUS ESP GBR 1  Citroën Total World Rally Team 18  14  16  16  18  8  4  12  13        119 2  BP Ford World Rally Team 8  14  10  8  3  18  18  10  16        105 3  Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 8  8  6  5  10  7  5  11  4       64 4  Citroën Junior Team 5  2  4  0  2  5  6  5  4        33 5  Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 0  0  3  4  5  0  6  0  2        20
References
External links * Official website* Event at WRC.com