The 2009 Rally Argentina was the 29th running of the Rally Argentina and the fifth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was run on 23–26 April. It was won by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb for the fifth consecutive year. His teammate Dani Sordo finished second.
Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, who was in second place only six seconds behind Loeb after stage 14, retired from the rally due to an engine problem. This gave Loeb a 20-point lead in the drivers' championship. Hirvonen's teammate Jari-Matti Latvala, under pressure to get a good result after his recent crashes, dropped out of contention for the win after a puncture on Friday. His Focus WRC later experienced an electrical problem, costing him over eight minutes, but he managed to continue and finish sixth.
Following Ford's problems, Petter Solberg was on course for his second podium of the season, but he soon ran into fuel pressure problems and the third place was inherited by his brother Henning. This marked his career fourth podium finish. Home country's Federico Villagra beat Stobart's Matthew Wilson to take a career-best fourth place. Citroën Junior Team drivers Sébastien Ogier and Conrad Rautenbach both retired on Saturday. However, Ogier re-joined the rally under superally rules and finished seventh. Production World Rally Championship class winner Nasser Al-Attiyah took the last points-scoring position.
Results Pos.DriverCo-driverCarTimeDifferencePoints WRC 1 Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 3:57:40.3 0.0 10 2 Dani Sordo Marc Marti Citroën C4 WRC 3:58:53.4 1:13.1 8 3 Henning Solberg Cato Menkerud Ford Focus RS WRC 08 4:01:44.4 4:04.1 6 4 Federico Villagra Jorge Perez Companc Ford Focus RS WRC 08 4:03:40.0 5:59.7 5 5 Matthew Wilson Scott Martin Ford Focus RS WRC 08 4:03:51.2 6:10.9 4 6 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 08 4:07:30.3 9:50.0 3 7 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Citroën C4 WRC 4:18:35.4 20:55.1 2 8 Nasser Al-Attiyah Giovanni Bernacchini Subaru Impreza N14 4:20:51.9 23:11.6 1 JWRC 1 Michal Kosciuszko Maciek Szczepaniak Suzuki Swift S1600 4:42:28.0 0.0 10 2 Aaron Nikolai Burkart Michael Kölbach Suzuki Swift S1600 4:44:08.7 1:39.9 8 3 Alessandro Bettega Simone Scattolin Renault Clio S1600 4:50:02.0 7:33.2 6 PWRC 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Giovanni Bernacchini Subaru Impreza N14 4:20:51.9 0.0 10 2 Marcos Ligato Rubén García Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 4:23:04.8 2:12.9 8 3 Toshi Arai Glenn MacNeall Subaru Impreza 4:27:27.9 6:36.0 6 4 Spyros Pavlides Chris Patterson Subaru Impreza N14 4:45:10.4 24:18.5 5 5 Eyvind Brynildsen Denis Giraudet Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:52:49.9 31:58.0 4 6 Gabor Mayer Robert Tagai Subaru Impreza 5:00:56.3 40:04.4 3
Special stages DayStageTime (ART)NameLengthWinnerTimeRally leader 1(23-24 APR) SS1 19:05 Estadio Córdoba I 2.4 km Sébastien Loeb 2:23.6 Sébastien Loeb SS2 7:45 La Cumbre - Agua De Oro I 14.94 km Jari-Matti Latvala 12:48.7 Jari-Matti Latvala SS3 8:41 Ascochinga - La Cumbre I 22.38 km Dani Sordo 14:44.1 Dani Sordo SS4 9:44 Capilla Del Monte - San Marcos I 22.95 km Petter Solberg 17:33.5 Mikko Hirvonen SS5 10:16 San Marcos - Charbonier I 9.61 km Sébastien Loeb 6:32.5 SS6 14:26 Ascochinga - La Cumbre II 22.38 km Dani Sordo 14:26.8 Dani Sordo SS7 15:29 Capilla Del Monte - San Marcos II 22.95 km Mikko Hirvonen 17:16.8 Mikko Hirvonen SS8 16:01 San Marcos - Charbonier II 9.61 km Sébastien Loeb 6:28.9 Dani Sordo SS9 17:04 La Cumbre - Agua De Oro II 14.94 km Jari-Matti Latvala 12:32.42(25 APR) SS10 9:38 El Mirador - San Lorenzo I 20.81 km Sébastien Loeb 11:28.0 SS11 10:12 Mina Clavero - Giulio Cesare I 22.79 km Sébastien Loeb 18:18.2 SS12 11:00 El Condor - Copina I 16.29 km Sébastien Loeb 13:04.6 Sébastien Loeb SS13 11:46 Icho Cruz - Carlos Paz I 9.73 km Sébastien Loeb 6:19.4 SS14 15:23 El Mirador - San Lorenzo II 20.81 km Mikko Hirvonen 11:22.0 SS15 15:57 Mina Clavero - Giulio Cesare II 22.79 km Sébastien Loeb 18:04.5 SS16 16:45 El Condor - Copina II 16.29 km Jari-Matti Latvala 13:06.5 SS17 17:31 Icho Cruz - Carlos Paz II 9.73 km Sébastien Loeb 6:26.6 SS18 19:05 Estadio Córdoba II 2.4 km Dani Sordo 2:23.63(26 APR) SS19 8:48 Villa Giardino - La Falda 15.78 km Sébastien Loeb 11:18.2 SS20 9:20 Valle Hermoso - Casa Grande 10.95 km Sébastien Loeb 7:14.8 SS21 10:03 Cosquin - Tanti 11.27 km Jari-Matti Latvala 6:19.8 SS22 10:26 Tanta Nuevo - Villa Garcia 7.6 km Jari-Matti Latvala 4:15.9 SS23 12:05 Estadio Córdoba III 2.4 km Sébastien Loeb 2:26.6
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 1 150 2 Dani Sordo 2 5 4 3 231 3 Mikko Hirvonen 3 2 2 2 Ret30 4 Henning Solberg 4 4 18 5 3 20 5 Petter Solberg 6 3 4 Ret 14 6 Matthew Wilson 7 7 5 Ret 5 12 7 Jari-Matti Latvala 14 3 12 Ret 69 Federico Villagra 7 7 49 9 Sébastien Ogier 6 10 Ret 17 75 10 Chris Atkinson 54 11 Mads Østberg 9 6 3 Conrad Rautenbach 18 Ret 6 Ret Ret3 Khalid al-Qassimi 8 8 8 3 14 Urmo Aava 10 8 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah 11 16 8 1 Pos Driver IRL NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRC POL FIN AUS ESP GBR Pts
Manufacturers' championship Rank Driver 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 - - - - - - - 82 2 BP Ford World Rally Team 8 14 10 8 3 - - - - - - - 43 3 Stobart M-Sport Ford 8 8 6 5 10 - - - - - - - 37 4 Citroën Junior Team 5 2 4 0 2 - - - - - - - 13 5 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 0 0 3 4 5 - - - - - - - 12
References
External links Official site