MotorSportVoice - 2009

Poland greeted the World Rally for the first time since 1973, when Adchm Warmbold won in a FIAT 124 Spider Abarth. The location had changed since the 70's base of Krakow, and now found home in the Polish lake district town of Mikolajki.

Five time World Rally Champion, Sebastien Loeb, was hoping to put the horrific accident he suffered on the Rally of Greece behind him, and resume his almost relentless assault on the 2009 title. The rally started in ferocious style as Citroen pairing Loeb and Dani Sordo set about a battle with Ford duo Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala. Loeb's rally ended almost as soon as it had begun. The fourth stage saw the Frenchman hit a small tree stump at the side of the road, which broke his steering and forced his retirement from the rest of the day. Hirvonen, Sordo and Latvala continued to battle throughout the event, but it was Mikko Hirvonen who took the victory. He was meant to be followed home by his team mate Latvala for a second successive Ford one-two, but disaster struck on the final stage. Latvala clipped a metal drum used as a corner marker on the spectator friendly Super Special Stage. The contact forced his car wide at the corner and into a concrete wall. The collision was at low speed, but was sufficient to render his car useless with only a matter of a few hundred yards to go to the end of the rally. Bewilderment echoed through the crowd, as a distraught Latvala feared for his future in the factory Ford World Rally Team. The retirement of Latvala late on was profitable for Henning Solberg who found himself on the podium in third place. Sebastien Loeb, who entered days two and three under the SupeRally rules, made his way back to finish seventh overall. A combination of good driving and a few team orders by Citroen helped him climb the rankings to at least claim some points from the event.

The World Touring Car Championship is next on the calendar as it heads to Porto in Portugal from the 3rd to the 5th July 2009.