The 2007 Rally Ireland, the first

Rally Ireland Rally Ireland was added to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar in 2007. It was not part of the 2008 schedule, but returned as the First round of the championship in 2009. The north–south event is the largest sporting occasion o ...

and fifteenth round of the

2007 World Rally Championship The 2007 World Rally Championship was the 35th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on 19 January, with the Monte Carlo Rally and ended on 2 December, with the Wales Rally GB. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb won his fourth c ...

, was a motor rally run from 15 to 18 November. It took place over eight

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

on both sides of the border between the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Event started in Stormont,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and finished in

Mullaghmore, County Sligo Mullaghmore () is a village on the Mullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, Ireland. It is a holiday destination with a skyline dominated by Benbulben mountain. It is in the barony of Carbury and parish of Ahamlish. History From the 17th to ...

Report

The rally began with the first special stage in front of Stormont Castle in Belfast, which

Marcus Grönholm Marcus Ulf Johan Grönholm (born February 5, 1968) is a Finnish former rally and rallycross driver, being part of a family of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland lineage. His son, Niclas Grönholm, is an upcoming FIA World Rallycross Cha ...

won on Thursday evening. The next day, in the fourth special stage, Grönholm hit a wall hard, and he and co-driver Timo Rautiainen were taken to hospital as a precaution. Both remained unhurt, but withdrew from the rally. Citroën driver Sébastien Loeb took a step towards his fourth Drivers' World Championship title, taking the lead again in the drivers' standings. His advantage over his rival Grönholm, who retired on Friday after a serious accident, had been six points before the last round of the world championship. Mikko Hirvonen finished fourth, securing the second manufacturers' world championship title in a row for the Ford team. Jari-Matti Latvala was third, taking his first WRC podium. Latvala edged out Hirvonen from third place on Friday. He was able to hold this position to the finish despite briefly going off the road on Saturday, losing a little time.

Results

Retirements

Eugene Donnelly Eugene Donnelly (born 13 January 1967) is a rally driver from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, who races in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Career Eugene Donnelly has been rallying for 30 years. His first rally was the Cavan Stages Ra ...

- mechanical (SS4); *

- went off the road - hit the wall (SS4); * Xavier Pons - mechanical - engine (SS4); *

Andreas Aigner Andreas Aigner (born 24 September 1984 in Leoben) is an Austrian rally driver. He won the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) in the 2008 season. Career Aigner made his World Rally Championship debut in 2005, finishing 19th on the Cypru ...

- went off the road (SS7); *

Kris Meeke Kris Meeke (born 2 July 1979) is a Northern Irish professional rally driver, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). He was the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion. His co-driver is Seb Marshall, also B ...

- mechanical (SS9); * Andrew Nesbitt - went off the road (SS11); * Gareth Jones - mechanical (SS11); * Ray Breen - went off the road (SS11); * Tim McNulty - mechanical (SS12); *

Manfred Stohl Manfred Stohl (born 7 July 1972, in Vienna) is an Austrian rally driver who debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1991. Stohl's co-driver is fellow Austrian Ilka Minor. Career Stohl ventured into rallying following the career path of his ...

- mechanical (SS13); * Mark Higgins - rolled (SS16) ; * Leszek Kuzaj - mechanical (SS16); *

Patrik Flodin Patrik Flodin (born 16 August 1984) is a rally driver from Sweden. Flodin won the Swedish Championship in 2006. In 2009, Flodin contests in the Production World Rally Championship The FIA Production World Rally Championship, or PWRC, was a c ...

- mechanical (SS17); *

Armindo Araújo Armindo Araújo (born 1 September 1977) is a Portuguese rally driver. He won the Production World Rally Championship in the 2009 season, repeating the accomplishment in the next year ( 2010 season), to become the first pilot to ever win this cup ...

- went off the road (SS19);

Special Stages

All dates and times are

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

( UTC).

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

Manufacturers' championship

References

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Rally Ireland