*** Welcome to piglix ***

2009 Rally Argentina

2009 Rally Argentina
29º Rally Argentina
Round 5 of the 2009 World Rally Championship
← Previous event Next event →
Host country Argentina Argentina
Rally base CórdobaVilla Carlos Paz
Dates run April 23 – 26, 2009
Stages 23
Stage surface Gravel
Results
Overall winner France Sébastien Loeb
France Citroën Total WRT
Crews 51 at start, 33 at finish

The 2009 Rally Argentina was the 29th running of the Rally Argentina and the fifth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was run on 23–26 April. It was won by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb for the fifth consecutive year. His teammate Dani Sordo finished second.

Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, who was in second place only six seconds behind Loeb after stage 14, retired due to an engine problem. This gave Loeb a 20-point lead in the drivers' championship. Hirvonen's teammate Jari-Matti Latvala, under pressure to get a good result after his recent crashes, dropped out of contention for the win after a puncture on Friday. His Focus WRC later incurred an electrical problem, costing over eight minutes, but he was able to continue and finish sixth.

Following Ford's problems, Petter Solberg was on course for his second podium of the season, but he soon ran into fuel pressure problems and the third place was inherited by his brother Henning. This marked his career fourth podium finish. Home country's Federico Villagra beat Stobart's Matthew Wilson to take a career-best fourth place. Citroën Junior Team drivers Sébastien Ogier and Conrad Rautenbach both retired on Saturday. However, Ogier re-joined the rally under superally rules and finished seventh. Production World Rally Championship class winner Nasser Al-Attiyah took the last points-scoring position.


...
Wikipedia

...