2009 Acropolis Rally

The 2009 Acropolis Rally of Greece was the 56th running of the Acropolis Rally and the seventh round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 17 special stages. Ford's Mikko Hirvonen took his first win of the season and Citroën Junior Team's Sébastien Ogier his first-ever podium position. Hirvonen's teammate Jari-Matti Latvala climbed back to third place after going off the road and dropping from first to 11th place on the first day.[1]

2009 Acropolis Rally
56th Acropolis Rally of Greece
Round 7 of the 2009 World Rally Championship
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Host country Greece
Rally baseLoutraki
Dates runJune 12 – 14, 2009
Stages17
Stage surfaceGravel with some Tarmac
Results
Overall winner Mikko Hirvonen
BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT
Crews44 at start

Citroën's championship leader Sébastien Loeb crashed out from third place, and Dani Sordo broke his suspension while running second, right behind Hirvonen. Stobart M-Sport Ford's fifth-placed driver Henning Solberg crashed into the same rock as Sordo and also retired. Petter Solberg found himself Hirvonen's main challenger for the win, but also had to retire with a broken suspension.

With mechanical problems for Mads Østberg and Evgeny Novikov, who took his first-ever stage win in the event,[2] Federico Villagra finished fourth, Conrad Rautenbach fifth and Khalid al-Qassimi sixth, which marked his career-best result. Østberg climbed back into the points on the last stage. Home country's Lambros Athanassoulas edged out Nasser Al-Attiyah to win the Production World Rally Championship category, and also collected a WRC point for eighth place overall.

Results
Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points
WRC
1 Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 09 4:09:42.5 0.0 10
2 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën C4 WRC 4:10:55.4 1:12.9 8
3 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 09 4:11:27.5 1:45.0 6
4 Federico Villagra José Díaz Ford Focus RS WRC 08 4:13:30.8 3:48.3 5
5 Conrad Rautenbach Daniel Barritt Citroën C4 WRC 4:13:42.3 3:59.8 4
6 Khalid al-Qassimi Michael Orr Ford Focus RS WRC 08 4:16:46.8 7:04.3 3
7 Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 4:22:07.4 12:24.9 2
8 Lambros Athanassoulas Nikolaos Zakheos Škoda Fabia S2000 4:22:30.1 12:47.6 1
PWRC
1 Lambros Athanassoulas Nikolaos Zakheos Škoda Fabia S2000 4:22:30.1 0.0 10
2 Nasser Al-Attiyah Giovanni Bernacchini Subaru Impreza WRX STi N14 4:22:52.4 22.3 8
3 Armindo Araújo Miguel Ramalho Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:24:47.0 2:16.9 6
4 Toshi Arai Glenn MacNeall Subaru Impreza WRX STi 4:25:45.0 3:14.9 5
5 Martin Prokop Jan Tománek Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:28:28.9 5:58.8 4
6 Bernardo Sousa Jorge Carvalho Fiat Grande Punto S2000 4:31:49.6 9:19.5 3
7 Andis Neiksans Peteris Dzirkals Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:32:02.6 9:32.5 2
8 Patrik Flodin Göran Bergsten Subaru Impreza WRX STi 4:37:28.8 14:58.7 1

Special stages
Day Stage Time (EEST) Name Length Winner Time Rally leader
1
(12 June)		 SS1 8:48 Harvati 25 km Jari-Matti Latvala 18:18.9 Jari-Matti Latvala
SS2 10:21 Thiva 1 23.76 km Dani Sordo 17:00.6
SS3 11:44 Evangelistria 21.03 km Stage cancelled -:-.-
SS4 14:02 Bauxites 23.17 km Evgeny Novikov 14:39.8
SS5 14:56 Drossohori 23.68 km Sébastien Ogier 19:41.9
SS6 17:13 Thiva 2 23.76 km Mikko Hirvonen 16:59.5 Mikko Hirvonen
2
(13 June)		 SS7 9:32 Klenia Mycenae 1 17.25 km Jari-Matti Latvala 11:36.0
SS8 10:35 Ghymno 1 26.28 km Evgeny Novikov 19:03.6
SS9 11:50 Kefelari 1 24.15 km Mikko Hirvonen
Petter Solberg		 19:32.8
SS10 14:50 Klenia Mycenae 2 17.25 km Jari-Matti Latvala 11:21.8
SS11 15:53 Ghymno 2 26.28 km Evgeny Novikov 18:51.2
SS12 17:08 Kefelari 2 24.15 km Evgeny Novikov 19:10.1
3
(14 June)		 SS13 9:33 Loutraki 1 8.98 km Mads Østberg 7:38.2
SS14 10:07 Aghii Theodori 1 33 km Henning Solberg 22:43.2
SS15 10:55 New Pissia 11.3 km Matthew Wilson 8:16.2
SS16 12:51 Loutraki 2 8.98 km Stage cancelled -:-.-
SS17 13:25 Aghii Theodori 2 33 km Jari-Matti Latvala 22:14.2

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship
Pos Driver IRL
 NOR
 CYP
 POR
 ARG
 ITA
 GRC
 POL
 FIN
 AUS
 ESP
 GBR
  Pts 
1 Sébastien Loeb 1 1 1 1 1 4 Ret 55
2 Mikko Hirvonen 3 2 2 2 Ret 2 1 48
3 Dani Sordo 2 5 4 3 2 23 12 31
4 Jari-Matti Latvala 14 3 12 Ret 6 1 3 25
5 Henning Solberg 4 4 18 5 3 8 15 21
6 Petter Solberg 6 3 4 Ret 3 Ret 20
7 Matthew Wilson 7 7 5 Ret 5 6 14 15
8 Federico Villagra 7 7 4 Ret 4 14
9 Sébastien Ogier 6 10 Ret 17 7 Ret 2 13
10 Mads Østberg 9 6 7 7 7
Conrad Rautenbach 18 Ret 6 Ret Ret 9 5 7
12 Khalid al-Qassimi 8 8 8 16 6 6
13 Evgeny Novikov 12 Ret Ret 5 16 4
Chris Atkinson 5 4
15 Nasser Al-Attiyah 11 16 8 10 9 1
Urmo Aava 10 8 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 181416161884 94
2 BP Ford World Rally Team 81410831818 79
3 Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 88651075 49
4 Citroën Junior Team 5240266 25
5 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 0034506 18

References
  1. Beer, Matt (14 June 2009). "Hirvonen clinches Acropolis victory". Autosport. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  2. "Maiden stage win for Novikov!". Rally-Live.com. 14 June 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
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