2009 Cyprus Rally

The 2009 Cyprus Rally was a rally that took place from March 13 to 15, 2009, in Limassol, Cyprus. It was the third round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season.

History

This event returned to the World Rally Championship after being absent in 2007 and 2008. The rally consisted of 14 stages, which were driven on a mix of asphalt and gravel roads. The first day was held entirely on asphalt roads, while the subsequent days featured gravel roads.

Results

The rally saw Sébastien Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena claim their 50th World Rally Championship victory. They finished with a lead of 27.2 seconds over Mikko Hirvonen (Ford). Loeb's dominance was evident from the first day, where he took the lead with five stage wins and maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the rally.

Notable Performances

* Petter Solberg secured third place in what could be described as a "small miracle" for the former Subaru pilot. He had set up his own team over the winter.
* Dani Sordo was initially in second place but lost it to Hirvonen on Saturday morning.

References

Note: The references from the original sources are not included here, but would typically be added at the end of a Wikipedia article.