Rally Ireland 2009 Entry List confirmed: Total of 43 cars (22 WRCs), Aava in Stobart Focus

Entry list for Rally Ireland 2009 finalised

22 World Rally Championship (WRC) cars

43 entries for the first round of the World Rally Championship

The entry list for Rally Ireland 2009 has been finalised and a total of 43 crews will battle it out through 350kms and 19 stages of the Northwest from 29^th January to the 1^st February. In addition a total of 22 World Rally Championship (WRC) cars will compete in the first round of the 2009 World Rally Championship.

For the sixth year in a row Citroens Sebastien Loeb will be defending the driver’s title, while he and his team mate Daniel Sordo will be looking to defend the manufacturer’s title. Also battling out across the seven counties in the North West will be the Ford duo of Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala and away from the manufacturer teams, Henning Solberg, Umo Aava and Matthew Wilson will run under the Stobart banner, Khalid Al Qassimi continues in a third BP Ford Focus WRC and Chris Atkinson and Sebastian Ogier will compete in the Citreon C4 WRC. Once again the McHale family, Austin, Gareth and Aaron, in their Ford Focus will compete in a round of the WRC as will Michael Barrable and Ray Breen. Welshman Gareth Jones will do duel in his Subaru Impreza as will Stephen Murphy, Tim McNulty and Eamonn Boland.

Outside the WRC class 43 additional competitors have also entered Rally Ireland 2009. These include 2007 junior WRC rookie of the year Shaun Gallagher in a Mitsubishi Evo 9, Donegal’s Toni Kelly in a Honda Civic Type R and Germanys’ Aaron Bukhart in a Suzuki Swift S1600. Commenting on the applications to Rally Ireland 2009, Event Director John Naylor stated ‘We are less than three weeks away to the biggest sporting event to hit Ireland in 2009 and despite the challenging economic environment we all find ourselves in we are heartened by the number of the applications that we have received. Spectators will have an opportunity to see the world’s best rally drivers, up and coming talent and our own Irish legends and favorites all facing the same demanding test of the roads across the Northwest.’

The sport’s governing body, the FIA, has bestowed Ireland with the honor of marking the start of the 2009 WRC season. It is the first time in almost 30 years that the beginning of the World Rally Championship (WRC) has been held outside of Monte Carlo, the traditional starting point for each WRC season. Rally Ireland 2009 will take place between the 29^th January and the 1^st February with 19 stages taking place through seven counties in the North West; Cavan, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Sligo, Donegal and Roscommon. Rally Ireland is run by Motorsport Ireland in conjunction with the Association of Northern Ireland Car Clubs (ANICC) with sponsorship from Failte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). The 2009 World Rally Championship will be run in 12 rounds across the world and will reach a global TV audience of over 800million.

Ends

Rally Ireland 2009 Entry List

1 Sebastien Loeb F Daniel Elena MC Citroen C4 WRC A8
2 Dani Sordo E Marc Marti E Citroen C4 WRC A8
3 Mikko Hirvonen FIN Jarmo Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus WRC 08 A8
4 Jari-Matti Latvala FIN Miikka Antilla FIN Ford Focus WRC 08 A8
5 Matthew Wilson UK Scott Martin UK Ford Focus WRC 08 A8
6 Urmo Aava EE Kuldar Sikk EE Ford Focus WRC 08 A8
7 Sebastien Ogier F Julien Ingrassia F Citroen C4 WRC A8
8 Chris Atkinson AUS Stephane Prevot B Citroen C4 WRC A8
9 Khalid Al Qassimi UAE Michael Orr GB Ford Focus WRC 08 A8
10 Henning Solberg N Cato Menkerud N Ford Focus WRC 08 A8
11 Conrad Rautenbach ZW Daniel Barritt GB Citroen C4 WRC A8
12 Eamonn Boland IRL Damien Morrissey IRL Subaru Impreza S12C WRC A8
14 Gareth McHale IRL Brian Murphy IRL Ford Focus 06 WRC A8
15 Tim McNulty IRL Eugene O'Donnell IRL Subaru S12B WRC A8
16 Aaron McHale IRL Killian Duffy IRL Ford Focus 04 WRC A8
17 Gareth Jones GB Clive Jenkins GB Subaru 12B WRC A8
18 Austin McHale IRL TBA Ford Focus 03 WRC A8
19 Ray Breen IRL Martin Brady IRL Ford Focus 04 WRC A8
20 Michael Barrable IRL Dermot O'Gorman IRL Ford Focus 04 WRC A8
21 Stephen Murphy IRL Michael J Morrissey IRL Subaru Impreza S12B WRC A8
31 Aaron Burkart D Michael Kolback D Suzuki Swift S1600 A6
33 Simone Bertolotti I Luca Celestini I Suzuki Swift S1600 A6
34 Luca Griotti I Corrado Bonato I Renault Clio R3 A7
35 Yoann Bonato F Benjamin Boulloud F Suzuki Swift Sport A6
36 Hans Weijs NL Bjorn de Gandt B Citroen C2 S1600 A6
37 Kevin Abbring NL Erwin Mombaerts B Renault Clio R3 A7
38 Martin Prokop CZ Jan Tomanek CZ Citroen C2 S1600 A6
60 Ross Forde IRL Arron Forde IRL Suzuki Swift Sport N2
61 Niall McShea GB Marshall Clarke GB Proton Satria Neo S2000
62 Gary Jennings GB Rory Kennedy GB Mitsubishi Evo 9 N4
63 Shaun Gallagher IRL Paul Kiely IRL Mitsubishi Evo 9 N4
64 Seamus Leonard IRL Gerry McVeigh GB Mitsubishi Evo 9 N4
65 Alan Ring IRL Adrian Deasy IRL Mitsubishi Evo 9 N4
65 Paddy White IRL Graeme Stewart IRL Ford Focus 04 WRC A8
66 David James IRL Jim Crowe IRL Ford Focus 02 WRC A8
67 Alastair Fisher GB Barry McNulty IRL Ford Fiesta ST N3
68 Derrick Jobb GB Thomas Nugent GB Mitsubishi Evo 9 N4
69 Toni Kelly IRL TBA Honda Civic Type R A7
70 Paul Elliott IRL Brian Doherty IRL Mitsubishi Evo 9 N4
71 Rory Byrne IRL Jeremy Patterson GB Mitsubishi Evo 9 N4
72 Ian Hynes IRL Des Sherlock IRL Honda Civic N3
73 Steve Graham GB Tony Graham GB Vauxhall Astra Rally D N3
74 Kenneth Treacy IRL Martin Comerford IRL Volkswagen Polo N1

NEWS FLASH: Urmo Aava will contest eight events with a Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC, in Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Poland, France, Spain and GB, according to wrc.com.