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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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PKN Orlen
Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen Spółka Akcyjna (PKN Orlen S.A.), commonly known as Orlen, is a Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer. The corporation is a significant European publicly traded firm with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and the Baltic states as well as an operation in Canada. In February 2022, the Polish state was the first shareholder of the company with 27.52% of the shares. PKN Orlen is the fourth largest company in Central and Eastern Europe and is listed in global rankings such as ''Fortune'' Global 500, Platts TOP250 and Thompson Reuters TOP100. History Foundation (1999) The firm was created through the merger of two state-run petrochemical firms: C.P.N. (Centrala Produktów Naftowych), Communist Poland's petroleum retail monopoly and Petrochemia Płock, the state firm in charge of the oil refineries in Płock, the largest complex of its kind in Poland. After the merger of CPN and Petrochemia Płock in 1999, the company was r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petter Solberg
Petter Solberg (born 18 November 1974) is a Norwegian former professional rally and rallycross driver. Solberg debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1998 and was signed by the Ford factory team in 1999. The following year, Solberg started his successful partnership with the Subaru World Rally Team. With the Subaru works team, Solberg finished runner-up to Marcus Grönholm in 2002 and then became the first Norwegian to win the drivers' world title in 2003. In the following two seasons, he finished runner-up to Sébastien Loeb. Following Subaru's withdrawal from the WRC at the end of the 2008 season, Solberg secured private backing to start the Petter Solberg World Rally Team and competed with a Citroën Xsara WRC, a Citroën C4 WRC and a Citroën DS3 WRC. In 2012 Petter returned to a factory team, joining the Ford World Rally Team 12 years after making his WRC debut with the same team. He switched to rallycross for the 2013 season, and in the 2014 he became the inaugura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citroën C4 WRC
The Citroën C4 WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Citroën C4 road car and replaced the Citroën Xsara WRC. The car was introduced for the 2007 World Rally Championship season and has taken the drivers' title each year since in the hands of Sébastien Loeb, as well as the manufacturers' title in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The C4 WRC and Loeb maintained a 100% record on asphalt events during its WRC career, winning all 13 pure asphalt rounds of the World Rally Championship. Competition history 2007 The car made its debut at the 2007 Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of Citroën World Rally Team drivers Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Sordo. Loeb won the rally after leading throughout, with Sordo finishing as runner-up, with the pair winning the first nine of 15 stages. Loeb went on to win seven of the remaining 15 rallies that season to beat Ford's Marcus Grönholm to the title ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marc Martí
Marc Martí Moreno (born 1 October 1966) is a Spanish rally co-driver. Biography He debuted in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as a co-driver to Oriol Gómez in 1992. In the 1999 season, he began his partnership with Jesús Puras and the Citroën factory team. The pair took a surprise second place at the 1999 Tour de Corse, behind another Citroën Xsara Kit Car piloted by Philippe Bugalski. Puras and Martí went on to take their first win at the same event two years later. This was also the first of 32 world rally victories for the Citroën Xsara WRC. For the 2003 season, Martí replaced Luís Moya as the co-driver to double world champion Carlos Sainz. The pair won the 2003 Rally of Turkey and the 2004 Rally Argentina, and helped Citroën to two manufacturers' world titles. After Sainz's retirement from the WRC, Martí began co-driving to Sainz's young protégé Dani Sordo. They won the Junior World Rally Championship in 2005 and made a successful transition to WRC level ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Focus RS WRC
The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford Europe and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for ''Rallye Sport'' and the WRC for ''World Rally Car'', the car's FIA specification. The Focus RS WRC was in competition from 1999 to 2010, winning 44 world rallies and two manufacturers' world titles (2006 and 2007). It was replaced by the Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Like all contemporary World Rally Cars, the car is heavily modified from the production version, with which it shares only the basic shape and some parts of the bodyshell. The car features four-wheel drive, rather than the front-wheel drive of the road car. The engine used in the 2007 Focus WRC is based on Ford's 2.0 Litre Duratec from other models in the Focus range as rallying rules do not permit the standard 2.5-litre engine of the Focus ST or road going RS. As with most rally cars, the 2.0-litre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jarmo Lehtinen
Jarmo Lehtinen (born 3 January 1969) is a rally co-driver from Finland. He was the co-driver to former World Rally Championship driver Mikko Hirvonen and have scored 15 WRC wins competing under Ford World Rally Team and Citroën Total. As of 2019, he is current co-driver for M-Sport driver Teemu Suninen. Career Lehtinen started co-driving in 1988 alongside friend Jari Mikkola. He later partnered Marko Ramanen in the Finnish Rally Championship, and he made his WRC debut in the 1997 Rally Finland. In 1999 Lehtinen partnered Ramanen in the British Rally Championship and accompanied Jouni Ampuja to sixth in Group N in the Finnish Championship. He worked with Ampuja in the Finnish Championship for another two seasons. In 2002 he took up a new role in the gravel crew for Skoda driver Toni Gardemeister on the world championship. He also began to work with Hirvonen on international events. The pair have worked together on all their WRC outings since 2003, with Subaru in 2004 and with F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evgeny Novikov
Evgeny Maksimovich Novikov (russian: Евгений Максимович Новиков, translit=Yevgeniy Maksimovich Novikov; born 19 September 1990) is a former Russian rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2007 to 2013. Career Born in Moscow, Novikov won the Russian Rally Cup in 2006 and finished runner-up in both Estonian and Russian national championships in 2007. The 2007 season also saw him debut in the World Rally Championship at the season-ending 2007 Wales Rally GB. In the 2008 season, Novikov contested a full six-event Production World Rally Championship programme as the series' youngest driver. He retired in four rallies and collected his only PWRC points at the Rally Japan, where he impressively led the category until suspension problems on the last stage dropped him narrowly behind Juho Hänninen. He still managed to stay 2.9 seconds ahead of Toshi Arai and with the eight points for the second place, he placed 13th in the championshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conrad Rautenbach
Conrad Rautenbach (born 12 November 1984) is a rally driver from Zimbabwe who competed in the World Rally Championship for the Citroën Junior Team along with his co-driver Daniel Barritt. He won the African Rally Championship twice, in 2007 and 2011. Career He drove for the privately run PH Sport team with Urmo Aava in a Citroën C4 WRC for the 2008 season, where he achieved points finishes on two occasions, an 8th at Rally Turkey and a best result of 4th at the Rally Argentina. However, he also had some bizarre moments in 2008, not least of which the now infamous collision with Sébastien Loeb at the Jordan Rally where both cars managed to collide head-on forcing both to retire instantly. For 2009 Rautenbach joined the Citroën Junior Team where he continued to campaign in a Citroën C4 WRC. On Rally Ireland, the first event of the season, Rautenbach had a promising first day, setting stage times consistently in the top eight, and ended the day in fifth place. However ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citroën Junior Team
The Citroën Junior Team is a World Rally Championship team, which competed in the 2009–2010 and 2012 seasons. It was set up and run as Citroën's secondary team in the World Rally Championship, pitched against the existing Stobart Ford World Rally Team. The team was run by French preparation firm PH Sport along with Citroën Racing Technologies. It was revived in 2012. History Background PH Sport and Citroën Sport Technologies ran semi-privateer Citroën C4 WRCs for Conrad Rautenbach and Urmo Aava during the 2008 World Rally Championship season. 2009 The Citroën Junior Team was formed in 2009 following the withdrawal of manufacturers Subaru and Suzuki. It ran Citroën C4s for Russian Evgeny Novikov, Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach and Junior World Rally Championship champion Sébastien Ogier. It ran former Subaru driver Chris Atkinson rather than Novikov on the season-opening Rally Ireland, although despite a good performance, the Australian did not feature in the tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sébastien Ogier
Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Championship 8 times, in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, & 2021. Achieving 55 victories in the World Rally Championship and 8 titles (6 consecutive, 2013–2018), he is the 2nd most successful WRC driver, after former Citroën WRC teammate Sébastien Loeb (9 titles). Furthermore, he is one of two drivers (together with Juha Kankkunen) to have won the World Championship with 3 different manufacturers. Rally career Early years (2005–2007) Ogier's rally career began in 2005 when he won the French Federation's Rallye Jeunes and was rewarded with a place in the Peugeot 206 Cup for the following season. Teamed with co-driver Julien Ingrassia, he claimed a podium at Terre des Cardabelles and sixth place in the championship along with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mads Østberg
Mads Østberg (born 11 October 1987) is a Norwegian rally driver. His co-driver is Torstein Eriksen. Career Østberg competed in his first rally in 2004. His first World Rally Championship event was the 2006 Swedish Rally, in which he finished 31st in his Subaru Impreza WRC 2003. In the 2006 season, he competed in two more WRC rallies; retiring at the Rally Finland and finishing 23rd at the Wales Rally GB. In the 2007 season, Østberg continued with an Impreza WRC 2005 and competed in six world rallies for the Prodrive-supported Adapta team. He took his first stage win on a super special stage of the 2007 Swedish Rally, and later achieved his first WRC point by finishing eighth at the 2007 Rally Finland. Østberg also contested the Norwegian Rally Championship and won the national title. In 2008, Østberg continued to race with Adapta Motorsport in the WRC, using a Subaru Impreza WRC 2007. He did not score any championship points in his seven events. In the 2009 season, Øs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andreas Mikkelsen
Andreas Mikkelsen (born 22 June 1989) is a Norwegian rally driver. He is currently competing in the World Rally Championship-2 for Toksport World Rally Team. He previously drove for the factory teams of Volkswagen, Citroën and Hyundai in the World Rally Championship, finishing third in the drivers' standings in 2014, 2015 and 2016. His current co-driver is Torstein Eriksen. He is a two-time Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion, having finished first in 2011 and 2012. In 2021, Mikkelsen became the drivers' champion in both the WRC-2 and the European Rally Championship. Career Mikkelsen has a broad background in sports. He has competed in slalom and giant slalom, and was a member of the national juniors' alpine skiing team. In 2003 and 2004, he competed in motocross, also representing the national juniors' team. 2006–2010: Ford After turning 17 and getting a British driver's license, Mikkelsen started competing in rallies in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Driving a Ford F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
