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FORD DOUBLE IN
RALLY D’ITALIA SARDEGNA.
JARI-MATTI LATVALA WINS IN FRONT OF TEAM
MATE MIKKO HIRVONEN
Petter Solberg, Citroen Xsara, ends
in third place. Sebastien Loeb
finishes fourth after a penalty
May 24th 2009 -
The two drivers of the Bp Ford Abu Dhabi
Wrt Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko
Hirvonen ended in first and second
position the Rally d’Italia Sardegna
2009 sixth round of the World Rally
Championship, organised by the
Automobile Club d’Italia. But the great
news is that Sébastien Loeb is not in
the top three. The third podium step
went to Petter Solberg together with
Phil Mills on board a Citroen Xsara,
thanks to a penalty imposed on Sébastien
Loeb. The stewards gave a 2’ penalty to
the World Champion, as yesterday his
codriver Elena did part of a special
stage with his seat belts unfastened.
The crew therefore ended in fourth place.
Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikka Anttila
dominated the Rally d’Italia Sardegna
2009 from the first to the last stage,
obtaining a very important victory after
an horrendous start to the season. Mikko
Hirvonen finished second, failing in his
attempt to catch his team mate. On the
contrary, in the last day of the event
Latvala stretched his lead to a final
total of 29”4. Third place was decided
in favour of Petter Solberg. A great
event for Evgeny Novikov who on board
his C4 of the Citroen Junior Rally Team
managed to get fifth position ahead of
Matthew Wilson, Ford Stobart Vk M-Sport,
who after some mechanical problems on
day one was on a steady pace. A nice
fight until the very end between fellow
countrymen Mads Ostberg and Henning
Solberg for seventh place. Ostberg won
by 0”6.
For what concerns Junior World Rally
Campionship, victory went to Martin
Prokop, Citroen C2 Super 1600, ahead of
Michal Kosciuszko, Suzuki Swift Super
1600. Alessandro Bettega, Renault Clio
R3, very fast on day one of the event,
only finished fifth. In the standings of
the Production World Rally Championship,
Qatari Al Attiyah, codriven by Giovanni
Bernacchini won after a nice duel with
Patrik Sandell, Skoda. The two were only
divided by 1”5. Amongst the young
drivers of the Pirelli Star Driver
victory went to Jarkko Nikara. As
regards Italian drivers, it is worth
mentioning Peter Zanchi, who finished
24th overall. For what concerns
Sardinian drivers, the first was
Giuseppe Dettori.
The prizes for the winning crews, in the
beautiful scenery of the Marina Vecchia
pier in Porto Cervo, the Presidente of
the Sardinian Region Ugo Cappellacci and
the Presidentof the Automobile Club
d’Italia Enrico Gelpi
Final
Classification of Rally d’Italia
Sardegna - 1. Latvala - Anttila ( Ford
Focus Rs Wrc - Bp Ford Abu Dhabi Wrt) in
4h00'55"7; 2. Hirvonen - Lehtinen ( Ford
Focus Rs Wrc - Bp Ford Abu Dhabi Wrt) at
29"4 ; 3. Solberg P. - Mills (Citroen
Xsara) at 1'57"6; 4. Loeb - Elena
(Citroen C4 Wrc - Citroen Total Wrt) at
3’43”7; 5.Novikov - Moscatt (Citroen C4
Wrc - Citroen Junior Team) at 5'11"8; 6.
Wilson - Martin (Ford Focus Rs Wrc -
Stobart Vk M-Sport) at 7'29"3 ;
7.Ostberg - Engan (Subaru impreza WRC)
at 13'20"6 8.Solberg H. - Menkerud (Ford
Focus Rs Wrc - Stobart Vk M-Sport) at
13'21"2
Drivers’ standings
after six rounds -1.Loeb 55p.;
2.Hirvonen 38p; 3.Sordo 31p; 4.Solberg
H. 21p.; 5.Solberg P. 20p; 6.Latvala
19p.; 7.Wilson 15p.
Manufacturers’ standings after six
rounds - 1.Citroen Total World Rally
Team 90p; 2.Bp Ford Abu Dhabi World
Rally Team 61p; 3. Stobart Vk M-Sport
World Rally Team 44p; 4.Citroen Junior
Team 18p; 5.Munchi's Ford World Rally
Team 12p.
Junior World Rally Championship
standings after five rounds: 1.
Kosciuszko (Suzuki) 36p ; 2. Burkart
(Suzuki) 30p ; 3. Prokop (Citroen) 28p;
4. Bettega (Renault) 14p; 5. Abbring
(Renault) 12p; 6. Bertolotti (Suzuki)
11p; 7. Bonato (Suzuki) 10p; 8. Weijs
(Citroen) 9p; 9. Griotti (Renautl Clio)
8p
Production World Rally Championship
standings after five rounds: 1.
Al-Attiyah ( Subaru) 31p; 2. Araujo
(Mitsubishi) 29p; 3. Sandell (Skoda
Fabia) 28p; 4. Brynildsen (Mitsubishi)
22p; 5. Prokop (Mitsubishi) 14p; 6. Arai
(Subaru) 11p; 7. Neiksans (Mitsubishi)
and Ligato (Mitsubishi) 8p; 9. Sauvan
(Mitsubishi) 6p; 10. Pavlides (Subaru)
and Linari (Subaru) 5p
Stage wins –
Latvala 1-3-4-6-13-14; Loeb 5-8-9-12-17;
Hirvonen 7-10; H.Solberg 15-16; Sordo 2:
P.Solberg 11;
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