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2009 Rally Finland
*59th Neste Oil Rally Finland*
2009 Rally Finland; 59th Neste Oil Rally Finland
Round 9 of the 2009 World Rally Championship
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	Conrad Rautenbach driving a Citroën C4 WRC
Host country	Finland
Rally base	Jyväskylä
Dates run	30 July – 2 August 2009
Stages	23 (345.15 km; 214.47 miles)
Stage surface	Gravel
Statistics
Crews	90 at start, 61 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Mikko Hirvonen; BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT

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.^[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

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]

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
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Black	Excluded (EX)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
White	Cancelled (C)
Blank	Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship

Pos	Team	Event												Total points
Pos	Team	IRL	NOR	CYP	POR	ARG	ITA	GRC	POL	FIN	AUS	ESP	GBR	Total points
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

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

External links

[Crash.net-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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2009 Rally Finland