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Hirvonen and Latvala make Ford one-two at WRC Rally Australia

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen took victory in Rally Australia on Sunday 11 September with the Finns heading team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila to claim a one-two for the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson finished third in the leading Citroën DS3 WRC. 
 
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Sébastien Loeb continues to lead with 196 points. Hirvonen has however moved into second position, just 15 points adrift, and is now also back ahead of Sébastien Ogier. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroën leads with 62 points, despite Ford closing the gap.
 
The final day of competition took the crews north to Clarence Valley shire and was the shortest leg of the event covering two loops of three identical stages and 98.82 competitive kilometres. The final test - Clarence - represented the Power Stage, in which additional points are awarded to the fastest three drivers through this single stage. Here, Loeb claimed three points with Latvala and Solberg two and one point respectively.
 
Latvala started the day leading the field. However the Finn ultimately slowed to enable Hirvonen to pull ahead and claim victory to aid his chances in the Drivers’ Championship. The two Ford drivers maintained position to the finish, claiming the team’s first victory since the opening round in Sweden and its first one-two finish since Sardinia in 2009. Petter Solberg finished third. Matthew Wilson equalled his best-ever WRC result of fourth overall and Khalid Al Qassimi claimed a career-best with fifth.
 
Evgeny Novikov escaped unscathed from a dramatic roll in stage 22 and was forced into retirement, while Henning Solberg was able to continue after a slow roll in the following stage. Reigning FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb ultimately finished 10th, having been helped to climb up the leaderboard by team-mate Ogier.
 
New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard also claimed victory in the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship category and, subject to official confirmation by the FIA, have won the 2011 title for the first time in their careers.
 
The FIA World Rally Championship crews now head back to Europe for Rallye de France (29 September-2 October).
 
Rally Australia – Final Results (subject to final scrutineering)
Final positions
1, M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 35min 59.0sec
2, J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 36min 13.7sec
3, P Solberg/C Patterson NOR Citroen DS3, 3hr 36min 43.8sec
4, M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 44min 44.2sec
5, K Al Qassimi/M Orr UAE Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 48min 32.3sec
6, H Paddon/J Kennard NZL Subaru Impreza, 3hr 53min 28.3sec
7, M Kosciuszko/M Szczepaniak POL Mitsubishi Lancer, 3hr 55min 00.3sec
8, O Saliuk/P Cherepin UKR Mitsubishi Lancer, 3hr 57min 07.5sec
9, B Guerra/B Rozada MEX Mitsubishi Lancer, 3hr 58min 47.9sec
10, S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen DS3, 4hr 06min 01.9sec

Drivers                                        
1, S Loeb, 196pts                 
2, M Hirvonen, 181pts                 
3, S Ogier, 167pts                 
4, J-M Latvala, 116pts                 
5, P Solberg, 110pts                 
6, M Østberg,56pts                

Manufacturers
1, Citroen Total, 347pts
2, Ford Abu Dhabi, 285pts
3, M-Sport Stobart Ford, 117pts
4, Petter Solberg, 98pts
5, Munchi's Ford, 32pts
6, Team Abu Dhabi, 30pts