The 2009 Acropolis Rally of Greece was the 56th running of the

Acropolis Rally The Acropolis Rally of Greece ( el, Ράλλυ Ακρόπολις) is a rally competition that is part of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally is held on very dusty, rough, rocky and fast mountain roads in mainland Greece, usually duri ...

and the seventh round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 17 special stages.

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Mikko Hirvonen Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980) is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 200 ...

took his first win of the season and Citroën Junior Team's

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' Champions ...

his first-ever podium position. Hirvonen's teammate

Jari-Matti Latvala Jari-Matti Latvala (born 3 April 1985) is a Finnish rally driver who has competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC). His co-driver for most of his career was Miikka Anttila, who co-drove for Latvala between the 2003 Rallye Deutschland and 2019 ...

climbed back to third place after going off the road and dropping from first to 11th place on the first day.

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

's championship leader

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He h ...

crashed out from third place, and

Dani Sordo Daniel "Dani" Sordo Castillo (born 2 May 1983) is a Spanish rally driver. He competes in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. He achieved his first WRC victory at the 2013 Rallye Deutschland. Career Sordo began in motocross whe ...

broke his suspension while running second, right behind Hirvonen. Stobart M-Sport Ford's fifth-placed driver

Henning Solberg Henning Solberg (born 8 January 1973) is a Norwegian rally and rallycross driver. Together with his female co-driver Ilka Minor, he currently competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) with cars of M-Sport. Solberg is the older brother of ...

crashed into the same rock as Sordo and also retired.

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 ...

found himself Hirvonen's main challenger for the win, but also had to retire with a broken suspension. With mechanical problems for

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 finishe ...

and

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 2 ...

, who took his first-ever stage win in the event,

Federico Villagra Federico Villagra (born May 21, 1969) is an Argentine rally driver competing in the Argentine Rally Championship. He had previously competed in the World Rally Championship for the Munchi's Ford World Rally Team. His co-driver is Diego Curletto. ...

finished fourth,

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 a ...

fifth and

Khalid al-Qassimi Sheikh Khalid bin Faisal bin Sultan Al Qassimi ( ar, الشيخ خالد بن فيصل بن سلطان القاسمي) is a rally driver from the United Arab Emirates, and a member of the royal house of Al Qasimi who rule the Emirates of Sharjah ...

sixth, which marked his career-best result. Østberg climbed back into the points on the last stage. Home country's

Lambros Athanassoulas Lambros Athanassoulas (born November 10, 1976, in Athens) is a Greek rally driver. Career Athanassoulas graduated from the American College of Greece and got a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and an M.A. in Finance from the University of Westmin ...

edged out

Nasser Al-Attiyah Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah ( ar, ناصر صالح ناصر عبدالله العطية : nāṣir ṣāliḥ nāṣir ʿabdullāh al-ʿaṭṭīyah; born 21 December 1970 in Doha) is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He wa ...

to win the

Production World Rally Championship The FIA Production World Rally Championship, or PWRC, was a companion rally series to the World Rally Championship, contested by Group N rally cars. History The series started in 1987 as ''FIA Cup for Production Rally Drivers'' and obtained th ...

category, and also collected a WRC point for eighth place overall.

Results

Special stages

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

Manufacturers' championship

References

External links

Official site
{{Acropolis Rally

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

Acropolis Rally