The 2009 World Rally Championship was the 37th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of twelve rallies and began on 30 January, with Rally Ireland and ended with Rally GB on 25 October. Sébastien Loeb won the World Drivers' championship at Rally GB by one point from Mikko Hirvonen, taking his sixth consecutive crown. Citroën secured their fifth Manufacturers' title, Martin Prokop won the JWRC Drivers' championship and Armindo Araujo won the PWRC Drivers' championship.
Regulation changes
The number of mechanics available per car has been dropped from 12 to 8.
Calendar The 2009 championship was contested over twelve rounds in Europe, South America and Oceania. Rd.Start dateFinish dateRallyRally headquartersSurfaceStagesDistanceSupport class130 January1 February 4th Rally IrelandSligo, ConnachtTarmac19349.73 kmJWRC212 February15 February 23rd Rally NorwayHamar, InnlandetSnow23360.90 kmPWRC313 March15 March 37th FxPro Cyprus RallyLemesos, Limassol DistrictMixed14332.07 kmPWRC/JWRC42 April5 April 43rd Vodafone Rally de PortugalAlmancil, AlgarveGravel18361.36 kmPWRC/JWRC523 April26 April 29th Rally ArgentinaCarlos Paz, CórdobaGravel23331.80 kmPWRC/JWRC622 May24 May 6th Rally d'Italia SardiniaOlbia, SardiniaGravel17347.12 kmPWRC/JWRC712 June14 June 56th Acropolis Rally of GreeceLoutraki, CorinthiaGravel17371.02 kmPWRC825 June28 June 66th Orlen Platinum Rally Poland - Rajd PolskiMikołajki, Mrągowo CountyGravel18352.00 kmJWRC930 July2 August 59th Neste Oil Rally FinlandJyväskylä, Central FinlandGravel23345.15 kmJWRC103 September6 September 20th Repco Rally AustraliaKingscliff, New South WalesGravel35344.72 kmPWRC112 October4 October 45th RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa DauradaSalou, CataloniaTarmac18353.62 kmJWRC1223 October25 October 65th Rally of Great BritainCardiff, WalesGravel16348.30 kmPWRCSources:
Calendar changes The 2009 season included twelve rallies, which was three fewer than the 2008 season, because the FIA imposed a "Round Rotation" System in order to attract candidate rallies to have a chance to be a WRC event. Monte Carlo, Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, Germany, New Zealand, France and Japan were dropped from the calendar for 2009, but will return at the 2010 WRC Season. Ireland, Norway, Cyprus, Portugal, Poland and Australia returned to the 2009 season.
The eight events also part of the Production World Rally Championship were Norway, Cyprus, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, Greece, Australia and Rally GB. The eight rallies also on the Junior World Rally Championship schedule were Ireland, Cyprus, Portugal, Argentina, Italy, Poland, Finland and Spain.
Teams and drivers In 2009 two categories are eligible to compete for the Manufacturer's championship:
Manufacturer (M) must take part in all the rallies of the Championship with two cars of the same make must enter only cars corresponding to the latest homologated version of a World Rally Car in conformity with the 2009 Appendix J must inform the FIA of the name of the first driver entered for the season at the time of registration for the Championship. No change of the first driver is authorised, except in a case of force majeure. The driver of the second car may be changed for each of the rallies in the Championship
Manufacturer Team (MT) must take part in a minimum of 8 Championship rallies with one or two cars; those rallies must be nominated on registering for the Championship cannot enter World Rally Cars homologated during the year 2009 and cannot use parts homologated after 2 January 2009 can only score points in the events it nominated on registering.
The registered Manufacturers are Citroën Total World Rally Team and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team; the registered Manufacturer Teams are Stobart VK M-Sport Ford, Munchi's Ford and Citroën Junior Team.
All teams ran Pirelli tyres.
Manufacturers Manufacturer Car TeamTyre No Drivers Co-drivers Rounds Citroën C4 WRC Citroën Total World Rally Team 1 Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena All 2 Daniel Sordo Marc Marti All Ford Focus RS WRC 08 1-5Focus RS WRC 09 6-12 BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 3 Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen All 4 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila All Manufacturer Teams Ford Focus RS WRC 08 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team 5 Urmo Aava Kuldar Sikk 1–2 Matthew Wilson Scott Martin 3–12 6 Henning Solberg Cato Menkerud All Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 9 Federico Villagra Jorge Perez Companc 3, 5–6, 9–11 José Díaz 4, 7 Citroën C4 WRC Citroën Junior Team 7 Chris Atkinson Stéphane Prévot 1 Evgeny Novikov Dale Moscatt 2–4, 6–9 8 Conrad Rautenbach Daniel Barritt All 12 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia 2-12 World Rally Car entries ineligible to score manufacturer points Manufacturer Car TeamTyre Drivers Co-drivers RoundsCitroënC4 WRC Citroën Junior Team Evgeny Novikov Stéphane Prévot11 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia1 Aaron Burkart Michael Kölbach12 Petter Solberg World Rally Team Petter Solberg Phil Mills 11-12 Xsara WRC 2–9 Ford Focus RS WRC 08 BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Khalid Al Qassimi Michael Orr 1, 3–4, 6–7, 9–12 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Matthew Wilson Scott Martin 1–2 Krzysztof Holowczyc Lukasz Kurzeja 8 Steve Perez Paul Spooner 12 Paul Bird Ian Windress11 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team Matti Rantanen Mikko Lukka 9 Mattias Therman Janne Perälä 9 Focus RS WRC 07 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Peter Van Merksteijn, Sr. Erwin Mombaerts 2 Hans van Goor 4 Focus RS WRC 06 Peter Van Merksteijn, Jr. Eddy Chevaillier 2, 4 Ipatec Racing Dennis Kuipers Kees Hagman 4, 12 René Kuipers Erwin Berkhof 4 Erwin Mombaerts 12 Peter Stephenson Peter Stephenson Chris Murphy 12 Focus RS WRC 04 MacHale Racing Gareth MacHale Brian Murphy 1 Aaron MacHale Killian Duffy 1 Austin MacHale Dermot O'Gorman 1 Clo Racing Jouni Arolainen Tapio Suominen 2 Risto Pietiläinen 9 Peugeot 307 WRC Bozian Racing Dany Snobeck Gilles Mondesir 11 Škoda Fabia WRC P-G Andersson Rallying Per-Gunnar Andersson Anders Fredriksson 2 Andreas Mikkelsen Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene 8 Octavia WRC Jukka Ketomäki Jukka Ketomäki Kai Risberg 9 Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 Adapta World Rally Team Mads Østberg Ole Kristian Unnerud 2, 4, 6–7 Veronica Engan 8 Jonas Andersson 9, 12 Anders Grøndal Maria Andersson 2 Prodrive Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen 4 Impreza WRC 2007 Eamonn Boland Eamonn Boland Damien Morrissey 1–2 Tim McNulty Tim McNulty Eugene O'Donnell 1 Fabio Montanari Fabio Montanari Silvio Stefanelli 6 Ketomaa World Rally Team Jari Ketomaa Mika Stenberg 9 Graham Coffey Graham Coffey David Gamblin 11 Impreza WRC 2004 Pier Lorenzo Zanchi Pier Lorenzo Zanchi Dario D'Esposito 6
Team and Driver changes Subaru pulled out of the WRC at the end of the 2008 season, citing the economic downturn then affecting the automotive industry for their withdrawal, leaving Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson without a drive. Solberg would set up his own team for the 2009 season, running an eight year old Citroën Xsara WRC for the majority of the season, although the Norwegian did consider switching to a Peugeot 307 WRC for Rally Finland. Chris Atkinson would drive for the Citroën Junior Team in the season opener in Ireland as a one off.
Suzuki pulled out of the WRC at the end of the 2008 season, citing the economic downturn then affecting the automotive industry for their withdrawal, leaving Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson without a seat. Gardemeister would leave the WRC while Andersson would do a one off round at Rally Norway in a Škoda Fabia WRC.
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team retained Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson for 2009 and had planned to run Urmo Aava in eight rallies but was dropped after two. 2008 drivers François Duval and Gianluigi Galli left the WRC.
Citroën set up the Citroën Junior Team as a manufacturer Team run by PH Sport who had run privateer C4’s the previous year. Their three main drivers were 2008 JWRC champion Sébastien Ogier, Conrad Rautenbach and Evgeny Novikov.
J-WRC Entries
No Driver Co-driver Car Rounds 31 Aaron Burkart Michael Kölbach Suzuki Swift S1600 1, 3, 5–6, 9, 11 32 Michał Kościuszko Maciek Szczepaniak Suzuki Swift S1600 3–6, 8–9 33 Simone Bertolotti Luca Celestini Suzuki Swift S1600 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 34 Luca Griotti Corrado Bonato Renault Clio R3 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 35 Yoann Bonato Benjamin Boulloud Suzuki Swift S1600 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 36 Hans Weijs, Jr. Bjorn Degandt Citroën C2 S1600 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 37 Kevin Abbring Erwin Mombaerts Renault Clio R3 1, 4, 6, 8–9, 11 38 Martin Prokop Jan Tománek Citroën C2 S1600 1, 3, 6, 8–9, 11 39 Alessandro Bettega Simone Scattolin Renault Clio S1600 5 Renault Clio R3 4, 6, 8 Mark Wallenwein Stefan Kopczyk 9, 11 Additional guest entries 60 Ross Forde Arron Forde Suzuki Swift Sport 1 59 Radosław Typa Maciek Wislawski Citroën C2 R2 8 60 Marcin Dobrowolski Michal Dobrowolski Citroën C2 R2 8 59 Kalle Pinomaki Matti Kaskinen Renault Clio R3 9 59 Jordi Martí Gabriel Sánchez Renault Clio R3 11
P-WRC Entries
No Driver Co-driver Car Rounds 31 Martin Prokop Jan Tománek Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2, 4–5, 7, 10, 12 32 Bernardo Sousa Jorge Carvalho Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 2–4, 6–7, 10, 12 33 Toshihiro Arai Glenn Macneal Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2–3, 5, 7, 10, 12 34 Gianluca Linari Andrea Cecchi Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2–4, 7, 10 Paolo Gregoriani 6 35 Martin Semerád Bohuslav Ceplecha Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2–3 64 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4, 6–7, 12 36 Egoi Eder Valdés López Daniel Lucas Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3–7, 12 37 Frederic Sauvan Thibault Gorczyca Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2–3, 5–6 Sebastien Capanna 7, 12 38 Gabor Mayer Róbert Tagai Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3–7, 12 39 Riccardo Errani Stefano Casadio Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – Simone Campedelli Danilo Fappani 3, 6 Thomas Privé Patrice Zurro 4 Stefano Marrini Roberto Mometti 5 Armindo Araujo Miguel Ramalho 10 Eyvind Brynildsen Denis Giraudet Škoda Fabia S2000 12 40 Andis Neikšāns Pēteris Dzirkals Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2–4, 6–7 Dave Weston, Jr. Iuean Thomas Subaru Impreza WRX STI 12 43 Luciano Bernardi Fabian Cretu Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 5 Mark Tapper Jeff Judd Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 10 65 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4, 6–7, 12 44 Jaromir Tarabus Daniel Trunkat Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 2 Filip Schovánek 4 Nasser Al-Attiyah Giovanni Bernacchini Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3 Spyros Pavlides Chris Patterson 5, 12 Denis Giraudet 7 45 Patrik Flodin Göran Bergsten Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2, 4, 6–7, 12 Stewart Taylor Warwick Searle Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 10 46 Patrik Sandell Emil Axelsson Škoda Fabia S2000 2–4, 6–7, 12 47 Armindo Araujo Miguel Ramalho Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2–4, 6–7, 12 48 Gaurav Gill David Senior Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2–4 Hermann Gassner, Jr. Katharina Wustenhagen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 6, 12 Stefano Marrini Roberto Mometti 7 Liu Chao Dong Anthony McLoughlin 10 49 Eyvind Brynildsen Denis Giraudet Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2, 4–6, 10 Giorgio Bacco Nicola Arena 12 50 Nasser Al-Attiyah Giovanni Bernacchini Subaru Impreza WRX STI 4–7, 12 Richard Mason Sara Mason 10 Additional guest entries 59 Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2 60 Bernt Kollevold Veronica Engan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2 159 Nicos Thomas Stéphane Prévot Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3 160 Charalambos Timotheu Savvas Laos Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3 159 Bruno Magalhães Carlos Magalhães Peugeot 207 S2000 4 160 Ricardo Moura Paulo Fiuza Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4 159 Gabriel Pozzo Daniel Stillo Subaru Impreza WRX STI 5 160 Marcos Ligato Rubén García Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 5 59 Lambros Athanassoulas Nikolaos Zakheos Škoda Fabia S2000 7 59 Cody Crocker Ben Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX STI 10 60 Neal Bates Coral Taylor Toyota Corolla S2000 10 † – At each rally, the organiser may nominate two "guest drivers" from their country to score support category points.
Results and standings
Results and statistics Colour Rally Surface Gold Gravel Silver Tarmac Blue Snow/Ice Bronze Mixed Surface