For the first time since February’s Swedish Rally, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were able to pop the champagne in Australia. The Finnish crew succeeded in climbing from overnight second place on the final day to conclude Ford’s successful weekend in Coffs Harbour. It was a strong result for Ford, with four of its cars finishing inside the top five. Citroen privateer (and former world champ) Petter Solberg took third while Stobbart Ford’s Matthew Wilson equalled his career best result with fourth overall ahead of Ford’s third factory driver Khalid Al Qassimi, taking fifth.
Hirvonen’s victory has edged him closer to Sebastien Loeb’s world title lead, narrowing the gap to 15 points with three events remaining. The rally didn’t begin well for Citroen Racing when Sebastien Loeb rolled out of the lead on SS4, while Sebastien Ogier was halted after being caught out by the slippery, muddy conditions two stages later. However, the two Frenchmen were able to re-join under the SupeRally ruling in a bid to salvage some championship points. Loeb and Ogier finally finished 10th and 11th overall, with Loeb pocketing the three bonus championship points up for grabs on the Power Stage.
Petter Solberg survived all the pitfalls to complete the event in third place, eight minutes clear of Briton Matthew Wilson who powered his Ford to fourth. Al-Qassimi rounded off the top five which featured four Ford Fiesta RS WRCs. Hayden Paddon in his Subaru came sixth overall to secure yet another PWRC class win.
