The 2006 Telstra Rally Australia was the fourteenth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between 26 and 29 October 2006.
Report Ford's Mikko Hirvonen won the rally, taking his first victory of his career. His teammate Marcus Grönholm was only the Fifth to mathematically give the world championship to Sébastien Loeb, who was out of this race due to injury. Grönholm hit a rock, resulting in him losing eleven minutes and falling to 55th place. In order to maintain his chances for the championship, Grönholm had to rise to at least third place, but he was only able to collect four points, so Loeb, who witnessed the rally from home, celebrated the championship with two more races left.
Results Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points WRC 1 Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 3:15:11.8 0.0 10 2 Petter Solberg Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC 06 3:15:48.9 37.1 8 3 Manfred Stohl Ilka Minor Peugeot 307 WRC 3:19:10.4 3:58.6 6 4 Xavier Pons Carlos Del Barrio Citroën Xsara WRC 3:19:57.2 4:45.4 5 5 Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 3:27:35.6 12:23.8 4 6 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:32:21.0 17:09.2 3 7 Mirco Baldacci Giovanni Agnese Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3:32:54.7 17:42.9 2 8 Dean Herridge William Hayes Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:33:33.8 18:22.0 1 PWRC 1. Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:32:21.0 0.0 10 2. Mirco Baldacci Giovanni Agnese Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3:32:54.7 33.7 8 3. Dean Herridge William Hayes Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:33:33.8 1:12.8 6 4. Aki Teiskonen Miika Teiskonen Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:42:31.1 10:10.1 5 5. Sergey Uspenskiy Dmitriy Yeremeyev Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:47:00.5 14:39.5 4 6. Stefano Marrini Tiziana Sandroni Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3:51:18.5 18:57.5 3 7. Toshi Arai Daniel Barritt Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:00:12.6 27:51.6 2
Special Stages All dates and times are AWST (UTC+8). DayStageTimeNameLength (km)WinnerTimeRally leader 1(26/27 Oct) SS1 19:12 Perth City Super 1 2.00 Marcus Grönholm 1:21.1 Marcus Grönholm SS2 19:21 Perth City Super 2 2.00 Marcus Grönholm 1:20.7 SS3 09:23 Murray North 1 15.92 Chris Atkinson 8:55.4 Chris Atkinson SS4 09:56 Murray South 1 20.12 Chris Atkinson 11:34.9 SS5 10:36 Holyoake 3.13 Chris Atkinson 1:53.4 SS6 11:49 Murray North 2 15.92 Petter Solberg 8:50.0 Mikko Hirvonen SS7 12:22 Murray South 2 20.12 Petter Solberg 11:31.1 Petter Solberg SS8 16:32 Beraking 1 22.84 Marcus Grönholm 13:05.7 SS9 17:18 Flynns 1 18.78 Marcus Grönholm 11:07.2 Mikko Hirvonen SS10 19:25 Perth City Super 3 2.00 Marcus Grönholm 1:22.6 SS11 19:34 Perth City Super 4 2.00 Xavier Pons 1:22.2 2(28 Oct) SS12 09:20 Bannister North 1 17.70 Mikko Hirvonen 8:34.7 SS13 09:52 Bannister Central 1 17.85 Mikko Hirvonen 9:20.8 SS14 10:36 Bannister Loop 3.61 Marcus Grönholm 1:57.5 SS15 11:55 Bannister North 2 17.70 Marcus Grönholm 8:30.5 SS16 12:27 Bannister Central 2 17.85 Mikko Hirvonen 9:15.0 SS17 16:32 Beraking 2 22.84 Petter Solberg 12:34.5 SS18 17:18 Flynns 2 18.78 Marcus Grönholm 10:48.1 SS19 19:25 Perth City Super 5 2.00 Marcus Grönholm 1:21.8 SS20 19:34 Perth City Super 6 2.00 Marcus Grönholm 1:21.5 3(29 Oct) SS21 07:03 Atkins 1 4.42 Petter Solberg 3:06.1 SS22 07:33 Helena North 1 29.93 Mikko Hirvonen 17:06.0 SS23 08:14 Helena South 1 17.30 Mikko Hirvonen 8:57.8 SS24 11:03 Atkins 2 4.42 Petter Solberg 3:01.3 SS25 11:33 Helena North 2 29.93 Petter Solberg 16:59.1 SS26 12:14 Helena South 2 17.30 Petter Solberg 8:55.9
External links Results at eWRC.com Results at Jonkka's World Rally Archive