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2009 Rally Finland : WRC Round 9 of 12 : 31st July - 2nd August

In this issue:
1. Final Unofficial Leaderboard
2. Final News
4. Final Team by Team News
5. Championship Points
6. Next Event

1. Final Unofficial Leaderboard
1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 50min 40.9sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 2hr 51min 06.0sec
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 51min 30.8sec
4. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 2hr 51min 47.0sec
5. M Rantanen/M Lukka FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 54min 59.1sec
6. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 2hr 54min 59.4sec
7. J Ketomaa/M Stenberg FIN Subaru Impreza 2hr 55min 48.4sec
8. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 2hr 57min 14.5sec
9. K Al Qassimi/M Orr UAE Ford Focus RS 3hr 03min 38.2sec
10 J Hänninen/M Markkula FIN Skoda Fabia 3hr 04min 54.6sec

2. Final News
Mikko Hirvonen fulfilled a childhood dream by winning Rally Finland in front of his home town fans in Jyväskylä today. Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen won the legendary rally by 25.1sec in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to extend their lead in the FIA World Rally Championship to three points with three rounds remaining. It was Hirvonen's third straight rally win and Ford's fourth consecutive victory of the 2009 season. Sebastien Loeb se! ttled for second after a puncture dented his victory hopes yesterday whilst Latvala overcame Sordo to claim 3rd. Juho Hanninen dominated the Grp N category to make it into the top 10 by the end of the event.

4. Team by Team News

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Tea! m driver Mikko Hirvonen fulfilled a childhood dream by winning Rally Finland in front of his home town fans in Jyväskylä today. Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen won the legendary rally by 25.1sec in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to extend their lead in the FIA World Rally Championship to three points with three rounds remaining. It was Hirvonen's third straight rally win and Ford's fourth consecutive victory of the 2009 season.
Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila joined their fellow Finns on the podium by claiming third in their Focus RS WRC.
#3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: It's such a fantastic sensation to win my home rally that I can't put my feelings into words. It has been such a great weekend for the team that there will be big celebrations tonight. I felt in control throughout the rally. It was a great battle with Loeb and when he had a problem, I could ! afford to take it a little bit easier,"
#4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "After my mistake on the final stage in Poland last month, I was under the biggest pressure of my life here and it took time to regain my rhythm and confidence. Then I fell ill, but overtaking Dani Sordo to move into third was a turning point and my times became better and better. I feel I have grown up mentally since Poland and my role for the rest of the season is to support Mikko's drivers' title challenge in the way I did here."

Citroen Total World Rally Team
http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1
The short third and final leg of the 2009 Rally Finland failed to change anything at the sharp end of the leaderboard. Having figured in second place since Friday morning, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena completed the event ! in the same position to keep their chances of defending their 2008 world title very much alive. Dani Sordo and Marc Marti came fourth to collect valuable points for Citroën which continues to top the provisional Manufacturers' standings.
#1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I
would have preferred to have won, but there was little I could do about the result this weekend. Mikko put in a
flawless run on his home event after being on the limit from start to finish. We've dropped another two points
in the title chase, so it looks like it's going to be a close-run thing to the end."
#2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: "It's a shame we
didn't manage to hold on to third place, but there were times when we succeeded in rivalling with the drivers
who were fighting for victory. More than anywhere else, experience is vital here in Finland and I feel I
progressed to a higher level on this year's event."

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Matthew Wilson earned his best ever result and his first drivers' point at Neste Oil Rally Finland as he took eighth place at round nine of the FIA World Rally Championship. The young Briton climbed steadily through the field during the rally to bolster his position in the drivers' championship and earn good manufacturer points for the team. Henning Solberg also added to the Stobart team's points tally as he took a manufacturer point despite competing under SupeRally conditions on Sunday.
#6 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "We came to this rally aiming for another top-five and things were looking good but unfortunately part of the suspension broke and we had to retire at the start of the second day. With our aim not possib! le I had to focus on getting more points for the Stobart team. We tried our best for this and on the final day our times were good; it was also useful to have that extra driving ahead of Rally Australia."
#5 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin :"It has been a really valuable learning experience and we always pick up more things here than at any other rally. We made changes to our notes after Rally Poland to make them more accurate on the wider roads and that has worked fairly well; it's made them more precise. It has been good to see that I'm improving and this is my best ever result here. I've gained a lot of experience of the new stages which will help me next year."

Citroen Junior Team
http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1
On their first participation in the Rally Finland at the wheel of the C4 WRC, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have finished s! ixth after setting a fastest time on day two. This excellent result underlines the progress made by the Citroën Junior Team since the start of the 2009 season.
#7 : Evgeny Novikov/Dale Moscatt: Retired (accident)
#8: Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barritt: Retired (accident)
#11: Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia: " I'm very happy with how we
drove on the second half of the event. We enjoyed ourselves a lot and built up a lot of confidence, thanks to a
perfect car and good pace notes. We were able to up the speed as the rally went on and this continues our learning
curve well. Now I can't wait to get to Australia! "

5. Championship Points
Full championship points at: http://www.rallye-info.com/points.asp?

6. Next Event
Rally Australia returns to the series for the first time since 2006 next month. The new-look rally has crossed the country to the east coast and is based in Kingscliff, New South Wales on 3 - 6 September. .