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Hirvonen wins dramatic Polish rally and now leads championship
publication date: Jun 29, 2009
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author/source: Robin Roberts
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BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen took the lead in the FIA World Rally
Championship yesterday after winning a dramatic Rally Poland in a Focus RS World
Rally Car.
It
was Ford's third straight victory following wins in Italy and Greece and
Hirvonen now heads the drivers' standings by one point with four rounds
remaining and the next is his home event in Finland at the end of July.
The
Finns led the rally for virtually the entire event, their winning margin 1min
10.3sec after three days of flat-out competition.
Team-mates
Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were on course for second place in
another Focus RS WRC, only to retire with the finish in sight after hitting a
barrel and breaking his car's steering on the final speed test in the rally's
host town of Mikolajki
This
was Poland's first appearance in the WRC since the inaugural championship in
1973. More than 200,000 fans welcomed its return by swamping the
picturesque Mazurian Lake District, 250km from Warsaw in the north-east of the
country, to watch the action.
Narrow,
sandy and blisteringly fast gravel roads challenged the drivers, who tackled 18
special stages covering 352.00km. Such was the pace that Hirvonen won
Friday's penultimate speed test at an average speed of 129.44kph.
Hirvonen
took the lead on the third stage on Friday morning and Latvala claimed second
just one test later after Sébastien Loeb, Hirvonen's title rival, hit a tree
stump and broke his car's suspension.
The
BP Ford Abu Dhabi duo withstood a determined challenge yesterday morning from
third-placed Dani Sordo and measured their pace through today's final leg until
the last stage drama. Petter Solberg and Welsh co-driver Phil Mills lost a
dipstick in their Xsara and sprayed oil onto the windscreen which slowed their
attack.
Loeb
restarted under the super rally rules but struggled badly and was only handed
eighth place after two other Citroen drivers pulled up to let him pass into the
points table.
Rally
Poland was first run in 1921 and is the second oldest rally after the Monte. It
was last run as a round of the WRC in 1973 but has continued in European
championships and last year won by Michal Bebenek, who finished tenth this
year.
The
championship moves into its final third in Finland next month for one of the
sport's great classics. Rally Finland, the home event for Hirvonen and
Latvala, is based in Jyväskylä on 30 July - 2 August.
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| Rally Poland Final positions | | 1. M Hirvonen/J
Lehtinen | Ford Focus RS | 3hr 07min
27.5sec | 2. D Sordo/M Marti
| Citroen
C4 | 3hr
08min 37.8sec | | 3. H Solberg/C
Menkerud | Ford Focus RS | 3hr 09min
33.2sec | 4. P Solberg/P Mills
| Citroen
Xsara | 3hr 09min 51.8sec | | 5. M Wilson/S Martin | Ford Focus
RS | 3hr 11min 45.0sec | | 6. K Holowczyc/L
Kurzeja | Ford
Focus RS | 3hr 12min 01.4sec | 7. S Loeb/D Elena
| Citroen
C4 | 3hr
26min 42.6sec | | 8. C Rautenbach/D Barritt | Citroen
C4 | 3hr
26min 48.1sec | 9. E Novikov/D Moscatt
| Citroen C4 | 3hr 26min 53.7sec | 10 M Bebenek/G Bebenek
|
Mitsubishi Lancer
| 3hr 30min 36.2sec | | | | |
| World Rally Championship Positions | | | | | | Drivers | | | Manufacturers | | | 1. M Hirvonen
| 58pts | | 1. Citroen Total
| 106pts | | 2. S Loeb
| 57pts | | 2. BP Ford Abu Dhabi
| 89pts | 3. D Sordo
| 39pts
| | 3. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford | 60pts | | 4. H Solberg
| 27pts | | 4. Citroen Junior
| 29pts | | 5. J-M Latvala
| 25pts
| | 5. Munchi's
Ford
| 18pts |
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