2009 Rally Poland
# 2009 Rally Poland

The 2009 ORLEN Platinum Rally Poland was the 66th running of the Rally Poland and the eighth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. Rally Poland had previously been part of the WRC schedule during the inaugural 1973 season. The rally consisted of 18 special stages and was won by Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, who took his first-ever back-to-back victories. However, the team's celebration was subdued after Jari-Matti Latvala crashed out from second place on the final super special stage, losing important manufacturers' championship points.

Citroën's Dani Sordo then finished second and Stobart's Henning Solberg beat his brother Petter to take the final podium spot. Home country's Krzysztof Hołowczyc, a three-time winner of the event, finished sixth behind regular Stobart driver Matthew Wilson. This marked the first time a Polish driver scored WRC points in the history of the series.

Citroën's defending world champion Sébastien Loeb lost the drivers' championship lead by crashing out in the second rally in a row. However, he re-joined the event under superally rules and with mechanical problems for Andreas Mikkelsen, Mads Østberg and Sébastien Ogier, he had climbed back into the top ten. Citroën then issued team orders and Citroën Junior Team's Conrad Rautenbach and Evgeny Novikov both stopped for enough minutes to let the Frenchman take the eighth place, which eventually became seventh after Latvala's mistake.

## Results

| Pos. | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Time | Difference | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| WRC |||||||
| 1 | Mikko Hirvonen | Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Focus RS WRC 09 | 3:07:27.5 | 0.0 | 10 |
| 2 | Dani Sordo | Marc Martí | Citroën C4 WRC | 3:08:37.8 | +1:10.3 | 8 |
| 3 | Henning Solberg | Cato Menkerud | Ford Focus RS WRC 08 | 3:09:33.2 | +2:05.7 | 6 |
| 4 | Petter Solberg | Phil Mills | Citroën Xsara WRC | 3:09:51.8 | +2:24.3 | 5 |
| 5 | Matthew Wilson | Scott Martin | Ford Focus RS WRC 08 | 3:11:45.0 | +4:17.5 | 4 |
| 6 | Krzysztof Hołowczyc | Łukasz Kurzeja | Ford Focus RS WRC 08 | 3:12:01.4 | +4:33.9 | 3 |
| 7 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC | 3:26:42.6 | +19:15.1 | 2 |
| 8 | Conrad Rautenbach | Daniel Barritt | Citroën C4 WRC | 3:26:48.1 | +19:20.6 | 1 |
| JWRC |||||||
| 1 | Kevin Abbring | Erwin Mombaerts | Renault Clio R3 | 3:35:05.2 | 0.0 | 10 |
| 2 | Martin Prokop | Jan Tománek | Citroën C2 S1600 | 3:36:15.4 | +1:10.2 | 8 |
| 3 | Yoann Bonato | Benjamin Boulloud | Suzuki Swift S1600 | 3:40:39.7 | +5:34.5 | 6 |
| 4 | Hans Weijs | Bjorn Degandt | Citroën C2 S1600 | 3:45:17.2 | +10:12.0 | 5 |
| 5 | Simone Bertolotti | Luca Celestini | Suzuki Swift S1600 | 3:51:50.3 | +16:45.1 | 4 |
| 6 | Radosław Typa | Maciej Wisławski | Citroën C2 R2 | 3:56:32.3 | +21:27.1 | 3 |
| 7 | Luca Griotti | Corrado Bonato | Renault Clio R3 | 4:00:53.6 | +25:48.4 | 2 |

## Special stages

| Day | Stage | Time (CEST) | Name | Length | Winner | Time | Rally leader |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 (June 25) | SS1 | 20:00 | Mikołajki 1 | 2.50 km | Petter Solberg | 1:48.3 | Petter Solberg |
| 2 (June 26) | SS2 | 9:51 | Grabówka 1 | 12.09 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 6:49.7 | Sébastien Loeb |
| 2 (June 26) | SS3 | 10:19 | Pianki 1 | 11.34 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 5:22.2 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 2 (June 26) | SS4 | 10:39 | Paprotki 1 | 33.17 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 18:14.0 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 2 (June 26) | SS5 | 14:01 | Grabówka 2 | 12.09 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 6:49.3 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 2 (June 26) | SS6 | 14:29 | Pianki 2 | 11.34 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 5:15.4 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 2 (June 26) | SS7 | 14:59 | Paprotki 2 | 33.17 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 17:57.2 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 3 (June 27) | SS8 | 10:14 | Danowo 1 | 11.88 km | Sébastien Loeb | 6:18.1 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 3 (June 27) | SS9 | 10:59 | Gawliki 1 | 32.75 km | Dani Sordo | 17:44.4 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 3 (June 27) | SS10 | 11:52 | Wydminy 1 | 30.09 km | Sébastien Loeb | 15:40.9 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 3 (June 27) | SS11 | 15:18 | Danowo 2 | 11.88 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 6:12.5 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 3 (June 27) | SS12 | 16:03 | Gawliki 2 | 32.75 km | Sébastien Loeb | 17:21.1 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 3 (June 27) | SS13 | 16:56 | Wydminy 2 | 30.09 km | Sébastien Loeb | 15:26.9 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 4 (June 28) | SS14 | 7:51 | Miłki 1 | 27.07 km | Sébastien Ogier | 13:59.3 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 4 (June 28) | SS15 | 8:57 | Tros 1 | 15.11 km | Henning Solberg | 7:53.2 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 4 (June 28) | SS16 | 11:49 | Miłki 2 | 27.07 km | Henning Solberg | 13:56.0 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 4 (June 28) | SS17 | 12:55 | Tros 2 | 15.11 km | Sébastien Loeb | 7:44.4 | Mikko Hirvonen |
| 4 (June 28) | SS18 | 14:24 | Mikołajki 2 | 2.50 km | Petter Solberg | 1:49.0 | Mikko Hirvonen |

## Championship standings after the event

### Drivers' championship

| Pos | Driver | IRL | NOR | CYP | POR | ARG | ITA | GRC | POL | FIN | AUS | ESP | GBR | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Mikko Hirvonen | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 1 | 1 | | | | | 58 |
| 2 | Sébastien Loeb | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Ret | 7 | | | | | 57 |
| 3 | Dani Sordo | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 23 | 12 | 2 | | | | | 39 |
| 4 | Henning Solberg | 4 | 4 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 3 | | | | | 27 |
| 5 | Jari-Matti Latvala | 14 | 3 | 12 | Ret | 6 | 1 | 3 | Ret | | | | | 25 |
| 5 | Petter Solberg | | 6 | 3 | 4 | Ret | 3 | Ret | 4 | | | | | 25 |
| 7 | Matthew Wilson | 7 | 7 | 5 | Ret | 5 | 6 | 14 | 5 | | | | | 19 |
| 8 | Federico Villagra | | | 7 | 7 | 4 | Ret | 4 | | | | | | 14 |
| 9 | Sébastien Ogier | 6 | 10 | Ret | 17 | 7 | Ret | 2 | Ret | | | | | 13 |
| 10 | Conrad Rautenbach | 18 | Ret | 6 | Ret | Ret | 9 | 5 | 8 | | | | | 8 |
| 11 | Mads Østberg | | 9 | | 6 | | 7 | 7 | Ret | | | | | 7 |
| 12 | Khalid al-Qassimi | 8 | | 8 | 8 | | 16 | 6 | | | | | | 6 |
| 13 | Evgeny Novikov | | 12 | Ret | Ret | | 5 | 16 | 9 | | | | | 4 |
| 13 | Chris Atkinson | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 |
| 15 | Krzysztof Hołowczyc | | | | | | | | 6 | | | | | 3 |
| 16 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | | | 11 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 9 | | | | | | 1 |
| 16 | Urmo Aava | 10 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | 1 |
| 16 | Lambros Athanassoulas | | | | | | | 8 | | | | | | 1 |
| Pos | Driver | IRL | NOR | CYP | POR | ARG | ITA | GRC | POL | FIN | AUS | ESP | GBR | Pts |

Key :

| Colour | Result |
| - | - |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Did not finish (Ret) |
| Black | Excluded (EX) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Withdrew entry from the event (WD) |

### Manufacturers' championship

| Pos | Team | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Total points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos | Team | IRL | NOR | CYP | POR | ARG | ITA | GRC | POL | FIN | AUS | ESP | GBR | Total points |
| 1 | Citroën Total World Rally Team | 18 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 12 | | | | | 106 |
| 2 | BP Ford World Rally Team | 8 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 18 | 18 | 10 | | | | | 89 |
| 3 | Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 11 | | | | | 60 |
| 4 | Citroën Junior Team | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | | | | | 29 |
| 5 | Munchi's Ford World Rally Team | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | | | | | 18 |
