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Hirvonen wins in Australia after penalty for Loeb

Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen have taken victory in Repco Rally Australia following a technical decision that elevated them to first place after originally finishing second behind the Citroen of Sebastién Loeb and Daniel Elena.

Following technical checks at the end of the three day event, the three Citroen C4s, that finished in the top four places, were handed a one minute penalty for a non-compliant suspension part.

This put Loeb behind Hirvonen on the official results, despite Loeb finishing the rally 12.5 seconds ahead of Hirvonen, the current drivers’ title leader after ten of 12 rounds in this year’s FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).

Behind Loeb in third position, team-mate Dani Sordo edged out the second Ford of Jari-Matti Latvala who had lead for most of the rally but lost a minute on the final day after clipping a bank.

The victory extends Hirvonen’s stake for the drivers’ crown to 78 points from second placed and five-time champion Loeb on 73 points.

“It's a shame that after such a thrilling battle for three days the result of the rally is decided in the stewards’ room,” said 29-year-old Hirvonen from Finland. “I suffered a points’ loss in Portugal two years ago, so I know how Sebastién, in particular, must feel. This decision has a major effect on the championship standings and we now go to Spain with a five point lead.”

Run for the first time on Australia’s east coast, the action was based in the countryside south-west of the rally base in Kingscliff in north-east New South Wales, using a mix of narrow and twisty gravel tracks totalling 322 kilometres and 35 special stages.

Forty teams started the rally and were whittled to 26 by the time they crossed the finish ramp. Several teams from New Zealand contesting the event included the pacesetters in the New Zealand Rally Championship series, Hayden Paddon and Richard Mason.

Paddon was announced as the Pirelli Star Driver award winner for the Asia Pacific region after the first day of competition – a million dollar prize that will see the Geraldine 22-year-old compete in six WRC events in 2010. Paddon is the second Kiwi in two years to win the opportunity to compete internationally with this Pirelli-backed driver development programme. Fellow Kiwi Mark Tapper is one of the first group of five Pirelli Star Drivers.

Paddon elected to compete in the rally’s final two days, after the Pirelli competition, continuing a strong run of form to finish ninth overall and first Group N category car.

Masterton’s Richard and Sara Mason (Subaru) were registered in the Production-World Rally Championship category, where they finished second and eleventh overall.

Hastings driver Stew Taylor finished 14th overall, while father Trevor, in the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X, finished 21st.

Mark Tapper was using the Australian event to support the experience gained in his year as a Pirelli Star Driver and was posting stage-winning times before rolling heavily in the first day and deciding to retire.

The P-WRC entrant run by Ralliart New Zealand Eyvind Brynildsen of Norway succumbed to the pressure, crashing and relinquishing his chance at taking overall victory in the P-WRC title chase.

The WRC contenders now return to Europe for the penultimate round of the series, Rally d’España (1-4 October).

Revised final positions – Repco Rally Australia (3-6 September 2009)
1, M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen (FIN) Ford Focus RS, 2hr 53min 06.5sec
2, S Loeb/D Elena (FRA) Citroen C4, 2hr 53min 54.0sec
3, D Sordo/M Marti (ESP) Citroen C4, 2hr 54min 11.1sec
4, J-M Latvala/M Anttila (FIN) Ford Focus RS, 2hr 54min 58.5sec
5, S Ogier/J Ingrassia (FRA) Citroen C4, 2hr 55min 29.8sec
6, M Wilson/S Martin (GBR) Ford Focus RS, 2hr 58min 32.8sec
7, H Solberg/C Menkerud (NOR) Ford Focus RS, 3hr 00min 24.3sec
8, F Villagra/J Perez Companc (ARG) Ford Focus RS, 3hr 00min 45.9sec
9, H Paddon/J Kennard (NZL) Mitsubishi Lancer, 3hr 08min 42.6sec
10, M Prokop/J Tomanek (CZE) Mitsubishi Lancer, 3hr 08min 51.2sec

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 10 of 12 rounds)
1, M Hirvonen, 78pts  
2, S Loeb, 73pts
3, D Sordo, 50pts
4, J-M Latvala, 36pts
5, H Solberg, 29pts
6, P Solberg, 25pts

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 10 of 12 rounds)
1, Citroen Total, 133pts
2, BP Ford Abu Dhabi, 120pts
3, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford, 69pts
4, Citroen Junior, 37pts
5, Munchi's Ford, 21pts