| 2011 Rally Australia 21stRally Australia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Round 10 of the2011 World Rally Championship season
| |||
 Eventual winnerMikko Hirvonen during a stage | |||
| Host country |  Australia | ||
| Rally base | Coffs Harbour,New South Wales | ||
| Dates run | 8 September – 11 2011 | ||
| Stages | 26 (368.96 km; 229.26 miles)[1] | ||
| Stage surface | Gravel | ||
| Overall distance | 1,246.78 km (774.71 miles)[1] | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Crews | 29 at start, 24 at finish | ||
| Overall results | |||
| Overall winner |  Mikko Hirvonen Ford World Rally Team | ||
The2011 Rally Australia was the 21stRally Australia and the tenth round of the2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 8–11 September, and was based inCoffs Harbour, a coastal city in theNew South Wales state ofAustralia.[1] The rally was also the fifth round of theProduction World Rally Championship. Rally Australia returned to the WRC calendar after a year's hiatus, and after demonstrations marred the2009 running of the rally, held north of Coffs Harbour in theNorthern Rivers area. Residents' concerns for the event meant that the rally was moved for the foreseeable future to Coffs Harbour.[2]
Ford World Rally Team'sMikko Hirvonen took his third successive Rally Australia victory, after team-mateJari-Matti Latvala slowed tactically on the penultimate stage, in order to aid Hirvonen's chances for the drivers' championship title.[3] The Ford drivers had moved into the top two placings on the opening day of the rally after Citroën'sSébastien Loeb andSébastien Ogier both had to retire from the day's proceedings and return to the rally the following day under theSupeRally regulations.[4] Loeb recovered to score a tenth-place finish with thePower Stage victory, to extend his championship by four points over Ogier, who slowed on the last two stages to drop from eighth to eleventh behind Loeb.
Petter Solberg finished third behind the Ford pairing, 44.8 seconds in arrears, but finished over seven minutes clear of the fourth-placed driverMatthew Wilson, who matched his career-best placing fromRally Japan in 2007.Khalid Al Qassimi scored a career-best fifth place, ahead of a quartet of PWRC competitors.Hayden Paddon was the best of the PWRC competitors with sixth place overall, securing his fourth PWRC victory in succession, and the championship title asMartin Semerád – who elected not to compete at the event – could only tie Paddon on points and lose on countback.[5]Michał Kościuszko,Oleksandr Saliuk, Jr. and Benito Guerra also scored overall championship points by finishing in the top ten.
| Day | Stage | Time | Name | Length | Winner | Time | Avg. spd. | Rally leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leg 1 (8–9 September) | SS1 | 19:15 | Coffs Jetty Precinct 1 | 3.77 km |  Sébastien Ogier | 2:46.1 | 81.71 km/h | Sébastien Ogier |
| SS2 | 19:30 | Coffs Jetty Precinct 2 | 3.77 km | Sébastien Loeb | 2:41.1 | 84.25 km/h | ||
| SS3 | 10:03 | Shipmans 1 | 29.03 km | Sébastien Loeb | 15:17.0 | 113.97 km/h | Sébastien Loeb | |
| SS4 | 10:58 | Brooklana 1 | 12.78 km |  Petter Solberg | 10:01.9 | 76.44 km/h | Sébastien Ogier | |
| SS5 | 11:29 | Ulong 1 | 12.45 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 6:37.9 | 112.64 km/h | ||
| SS6 | 14:42 | Shipmans 2 | 29.03 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 16:15.2 | 107.17 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen | |
| SS7 | 15:37 | Brooklana 2 | 12.78 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 10:23.1 | 73.84 km/h | ||
| SS8 | 16:08 | Ulong 2 | 12.45 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 6:55.1 | 107.97 km/h | ||
| SS9 | 18:30 | Coffs Jetty Precinct 3 | 3.77 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 2:51.0 | 79.37 km/h | ||
| SS10 | 18:45 | Coffs Jetty Precinct 4 | 3.77 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 2:49.9 | 79.88 km/h | ||
| Leg 2 (10 September) | SS11 | 8:33 | Welshes 1 | 21.10 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 12:10.2 | 104.03 km/h | Jari-Matti Latvala |
| SS12 | 9:21 | Grace 1 | 19.77 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 11:10.9 | 106.08 km/h | ||
| SS13 | 10:14 | Valla 1 | 14.84 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 8:56.2 | 99.63 km/h | ||
| SS14 | 10:54 | Urunga 1 | 13.79 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 8:41.8 | 95.14 km/h | ||
| SS15 | 14:02 | Welshes 2 | 21.10 km | Sébastien Ogier | 11:55.2 | 106.21 km/h | ||
| SS16 | 14:50 | Grace 2 | 19.77 km | Sébastien Ogier | 10:56.0 | 108.49 km/h | ||
| SS17 | 15:43 | Valla 2 | 14.84 km | Sébastien Ogier | 8:39.7 | 102.80 km/h | ||
| SS18 | 16:23 | Urunga 2 | 13.79 km | Sébastien Loeb | 8:28.8 | 97.57 km/h | ||
| SS19 | 18:30 | Coffs Jetty Precinct 5 | 3.77 km | Sébastien Loeb | 2:34.9 | 87.62 km/h | ||
| SS20 | 18:45 | Coffs Jetty Precinct 6 | 3.77 km | Sébastien Ogier | 2:33.8 | 88.24 km/h | ||
| Leg 3 (11 September) | SS21 | 6:56 | Bucca 1 | 14.83 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 7:18.3 | 121.81 km/h | |
| SS22 | 8:19 | Plum Pudding 1 | 30.00 km | Jari-Matti Latvala | 16:26.3 | 109.50 km/h | ||
| SS23 | 9:32 | Clarence 1 | 4.58 km | Sébastien Loeb | 2:22.8 | 115.46 km/h | ||
| SS24 | 12:03 | Bucca 2 | 14.83 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 7:10.6 | 123.99 km/h | ||
| SS25 | 13:26 | Plum Pudding 2 | 30.00 km | Mikko Hirvonen | 16:07.8 | 111.59 km/h | Mikko Hirvonen | |
| SS26 | 15:30 | Clarence 2 (Power stage) | 4.58 km | Sébastien Loeb | 2:18.1 | 119.39 km/h |
The "Power stage" was a live, televised 4.58 km (2.85 mi) stage at the end of the rally, held inClarence.
| Pos | Driver | Time | Diff. | Avg. speed | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sébastien Loeb | 2:18.1 | 0.0 | 119.39 km/h | 3 |
| 2 | Jari-Matti Latvala | 2:19.3 | +1.2 | 118.36 km/h | 2 |
| 3 | Petter Solberg | 2:19.4 | +1.3 | 118.28 km/h | 1 |
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