29 Jan - 1 Feb 09

The Munster Car Club was in strong attendence again this year, providing both Marshals and Officials to help run one of the biggest sporting events in Ireland in 2009. 

Chief Marshal for the event Paul Goodman expressed his thanks to all volunteers after the event, saying “The FIA observers were blown away with the numbers and dedication of the huge teams of marshals that traveled from all four corners of Ireland north and south and stood out in the freezing rain for up to 12 hours at a time.”

The event overall was a major success despite the challenging conditions thrown at the crews and organisers. Despite the atrocious conditions, gardai said spectator numbers surpassed the 250,000 mark of 2007, with an estimated 270,000 people watching the event. A bumper crowd of 47,000 thronged Donegal Bay and town for the final stages. 

Loeb finished 87 seconds clear of Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo, with BP Ford Abu Dhabi’s Mikko Hirvonen in third. Top Irishman home was Eamonn Boland in ninth, with Group N claimed by Shaun Gallagher.

http://www.rallyireland.org/

Results:

1 Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroen C4 WRC) 2h 48m 25.7s
2 Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroen C4 WRC) 2h 49m 53.6s
3 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 50m 33.5s
4 Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 54m 58.1s
5 Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot (Citroen C4 WRC) 2h 56m 17.6s
6 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C4 WRC) 2h 59m 09.7s
7 Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 59m 49.5s
8 Khalid al Qassimi/Michael Orr (Ford Focus WRC) 3h 02m 33.6s
9 Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Subaru Impreza WRC) 3h 03m 49.1s
10 Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk (Ford Focus WRC) 3h 04m 01.1s
11 Aaron MacHale/Killian Duffy (Ford Focus WRC) 3h 04m 35.4s
12 Tim McNulty/Eugene O’Donnell (Subaru Impreza WRC) 3h 09m 23.6s

Group N Production class: 
1 Shaun Gallagher/Paul Kiely (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 3h 09m 41.9s
2 Gary Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 3h 12m 37.8s
3 Paul Elliott/Brian Doherty (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 3h 38m 33s

Junior WRC class: 
1 Aaron Burkart/Michael Kolbach (Suzuki Swift S1600) 3h 16m 41.5s
2 Martin Prokop/Jan Tomanek (Citroen C2 S1600) 3h 17m 28.8s
3 Simone Bertolotti/Luca Celestini (Suzuki Swift S1600) 3h 25m 41.6s

Class winners: 
Ken Treacy/Martin Comerford (VW Polo)
Toni Kelly/Tony McDaid (Honda Civic)

Leaders After:
SS1 Jari-Matti LATVALA (FIN)/Miikka ANTTILA (FIN) (Ford Focus WRC)

SS2-3 Urmo AAVA (EE)/Kuldar SIKK (EE) (Ford Focus WRC) 
SS4 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 

Stage Winners
SS1 Jari-Matti LATVALA (FIN)/Miikka ANTTILA (FIN) (Ford Focus WRC) 
SS2 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS3 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS4 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS5 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS6 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS7 Cancelled 
SS8 Cancelled 
SS9 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS10 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS11 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS12 Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN)/Jarmo LEHTINEN (FIN) (Ford Focus WRC) 
SS13 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS14 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS15 Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN)/Jarmo LEHTINEN (FIN) (Ford Focus WRC) 
SS16 Sebastien LOEB (F)/Daniel ELENA (MC) (Citroen C4 WRC) 
SS17 Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN)/Jarmo LEHTINEN (FIN) (Ford Focus WRC) 
SS18 Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN)/Jarmo LEHTINEN (FIN) (Ford Focus WRC) 
SS19 Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN)/Jarmo LEHTINEN (FIN) (Ford Focus WRC)

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