ALL THE INTERNATIONAL RALLYING CHAMPIONS COMPETING ON THE STAGES OF THE RALLY D’ITALIA SARDEGNA 2009

Less than a month to go before the Rally d’Italia Sardegna, Italian round of the FIA World Rally Championship, scheduled for May 21th to 24th – event counting for the Junior and Production World Rally Championships – and by now it is possible to know the crews, at least for what concerns the works team, which will take part in the event.

Actually, all the current best drivers and cars will be at the start, beginning with reigning World Champion Sébastien Loeb behid the wheel of his C4 WRC of the Citroen Total World Rally Team. The five times World Champion arrives on the gravel roads of Sardinia after an astonishing season debut, having won five out of five evnts hereto run. Loeb, who as usual will be partnered by Daniel Elena, leads the standings, in front of team mate Daniel Sordo, who will also be present in Sardinia, codriven by Marc Marti.

Attempting to stop the winning series of the Citroen Total World Rally Team drivers will be above all the two Ford Focus WRC of the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. Mikko Hirvonen, together with Jarno Lehtinen, and Jari Matti Latvala, with Miikka Antilla, will try to steer the World Championship towards another direction. Hirvonen, in particular, has been the only one to follow Loeb's pace, while Latvala is looking for a prestigious result in the Italian event, to help forget a difficult start to the season. These are the four drivers who seem to have the biggest chances of victory, but Rally d’ Italia Sardegna is an event which could also bring surprises. These might come especially from the drivers of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team, Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg. With less chances of a win, but with every intention of doing well, will be the drivers of the Citroen Junior Team, Eugeny Novikov and Conrad Rautenbach , and the Argentinian driver of the Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team, Federico Villagra codriven by Jorge Perez Companc.

As a joker, free from any team role, there will be Petter Solberg, who won in Sardinia in 2004, behind the wheel of a Citroen Xsara Wrc. His car may not be the latest spec, but it has often allowed him to make his mark in the events of the 2009 WRC.

Drivers Standings
1. S Loeb 50
2. D Sordo 31
3. M Hirvonen 30
4. H Solberg 20
5. P Solberg 14
6. M Wilson 12
Manufacturers Standings
1. Citroen Total 82
2. BP Ford Abu Dhabi 43
3. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford 37
4. Citroen Junior 13