The 2006 Telstra Rally Australia was the fourteenth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between 26 and 29 October 2006.

2006 Rally Australia
19th Telstra Rally Australia
Round 14 of the 2006 World Rally Championship
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Dani Sordo during SS19.
Dates run26 October – 29 2006
Stages26
Stage surfaceGravel
Statistics
Crews56 at start, 45 at finish
Overall results
Overall winnerFinland Mikko Hirvonen
United Kingdom BP Ford World Rally Team

Report edit

Ford's Mikko Hirvonen won the rally, taking his first victory of his career. His teammate Marcus Grönholm was only the Fifth to mathematically give the world championship to Sébastien Loeb, who was out of this race due to injury. Grönholm hit a rock, resulting in him losing eleven minutes and falling to 55th place. In order to maintain his chances for the championship, Grönholm had to rise to at least third place, but he was only able to collect four points, so Loeb, who witnessed the rally from home, celebrated the championship with two more races left.

Results edit

Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points
WRC
1   Mikko Hirvonen   Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 3:15:11.8 0.0 10
2   Petter Solberg   Cato Menkerud Subaru Impreza WRC 06 3:15:48.9 37.1 8
3   Manfred Stohl   Ilka Minor Peugeot 307 WRC 3:19:10.4 3:58.6 6
4   Xavier Pons   Carlos Del Barrio Citroën Xsara WRC 3:19:57.2 4:45.4 5
5   Marcus Grönholm   Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 3:27:35.6 12:23.8 4
6   Jari-Matti Latvala   Miikka Anttila Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:32:21.0 17:09.2 3
7   Mirco Baldacci   Giovanni Agnese Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3:32:54.7 17:42.9 2
8   Dean Herridge   William Hayes Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:33:33.8 18:22.0 1
PWRC
1.   Jari-Matti Latvala   Miikka Anttila Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:32:21.0 0.0 10
2.   Mirco Baldacci   Giovanni Agnese Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3:32:54.7 33.7 8
3.   Dean Herridge   William Hayes Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:33:33.8 1:12.8 6
4.   Aki Teiskonen   Miika Teiskonen Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:42:31.1 10:10.1 5
5.   Sergey Uspenskiy   Dmitriy Yeremeyev Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:47:00.5 14:39.5 4
6.   Stefano Marrini   Tiziana Sandroni Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3:51:18.5 18:57.5 3
7.   Toshi Arai   Daniel Barritt Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:00:12.6 27:51.6 2

Special Stages edit

All dates and times are AWST (UTC+8).

Day Stage Time Name Length (km) Winner Time Rally leader
1
(26/27 Oct)
SS1 19:12 Perth City Super 1 2.00   Marcus Grönholm 1:21.1   Marcus Grönholm
SS2 19:21 Perth City Super 2 2.00   Marcus Grönholm 1:20.7
SS3 09:23 Murray North 1 15.92   Chris Atkinson 8:55.4   Chris Atkinson
SS4 09:56 Murray South 1 20.12   Chris Atkinson 11:34.9
SS5 10:36 Holyoake 3.13   Chris Atkinson 1:53.4
SS6 11:49 Murray North 2 15.92   Petter Solberg 8:50.0   Mikko Hirvonen
SS7 12:22 Murray South 2 20.12   Petter Solberg 11:31.1   Petter Solberg
SS8 16:32 Beraking 1 22.84   Marcus Grönholm 13:05.7
SS9 17:18 Flynns 1 18.78   Marcus Grönholm 11:07.2   Mikko Hirvonen
SS10 19:25 Perth City Super 3 2.00   Marcus Grönholm 1:22.6
SS11 19:34 Perth City Super 4 2.00   Xavier Pons 1:22.2
2
(28 Oct)
SS12 09:20 Bannister North 1 17.70   Mikko Hirvonen 8:34.7
SS13 09:52 Bannister Central 1 17.85   Mikko Hirvonen 9:20.8
SS14 10:36 Bannister Loop 3.61   Marcus Grönholm 1:57.5
SS15 11:55 Bannister North 2 17.70   Marcus Grönholm 8:30.5
SS16 12:27 Bannister Central 2 17.85   Mikko Hirvonen 9:15.0
SS17 16:32 Beraking 2 22.84   Petter Solberg 12:34.5
SS18 17:18 Flynns 2 18.78   Marcus Grönholm 10:48.1
SS19 19:25 Perth City Super 5 2.00   Marcus Grönholm 1:21.8
SS20 19:34 Perth City Super 6 2.00   Marcus Grönholm 1:21.5
3
(29 Oct)
SS21 07:03 Atkins 1 4.42   Petter Solberg 3:06.1
SS22 07:33 Helena North 1 29.93   Mikko Hirvonen 17:06.0
SS23 08:14 Helena South 1 17.30   Mikko Hirvonen 8:57.8
SS24 11:03 Atkins 2 4.42   Petter Solberg 3:01.3
SS25 11:33 Helena North 2 29.93   Petter Solberg 16:59.1
SS26 12:14 Helena South 2 17.30   Petter Solberg 8:55.9

External links edit