WRC: Hirvonen triumphant in Greece
Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen produced a commanding performance to win the Acropolis Rally. The Finn, whose Focus WRC is equipped with a ZF Sachs Race Engineering clutch, assumed the lead on the sixth of a total of 17 special stages and held it to the end of the seventh round of the world championship. Hirvonen reduced S饕astien Loeb痴 lead to seven points in the Drivers・World Championship standings after the Frenchman failed to finish.
Team mate Jari-Matti Latvala clinched third place following an impressive fight back. The Finn led during the first five special stages of the difficult gravel rally, but then dropped back down to eleventh position after a slip-up. Afterwards Latvala fought his way through the field to take a podium finish.
Argentinean Federico Villagra in the Munchis-Ford, which is also fitted with a clutch from Schweinfurt, recorded his best result of the season after claiming fourth place. Kharid Al Qassimi, whose Ford Focus WRC also relies on a clutch supplied by the ZF Sachs brand, reached the finish in sixth place and, as a result, for the fourth time in 2009 in the points.
Result Acropolis Rally (GR), round 7, World Rally Championship, 12.06.-14.06.2009:
1 M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen, Ford, 4:09:42.5 hrs, ZF Sachs
2 S. Ogier/J. Ingrassia, Citro・, + 1:12.9 min.
3 J. Latvala/M. Anttila, Ford, + 1:45.0 min, ZF Sachs
4 F. Villagra/J. Perez Companc, Ford, + 3:48.3 min, ZF Sachs
5 C. Rautenbach/D. Barritt, Citro・, + 3:59.8 min.
6 K. Al Qassimi/M. Orr, Ford, + 7:04.3 min, ZF Sachs
7 M. ヨstberg/O. Unnerud, Subaru, +12:24.9 min.
8 L. Athanassoulas/N. Zakheos, Skoda, +12:47.6 min.
Drivers・World Championship standings:
1. S. Loeb, 55 points; 2. M. Hirvonen, 48; 3. D. Sordo, 31; 4. J. Latvala, 25; 5. H. Solberg, 21; 6. P. Solberg, 20; 7. M. Wilson, 15; 8. F. Villagra, 14; 9. S. Ogier, 13; 10. C. Rautenbach and M. ヨstberg, 7.
Manufacturers・World Championship standings:
1. Citro・, 94 points; 2. Ford, 79; 3. Stobart-Ford, 49; 4. Citro・ Junior Team, 24; 5. Munchiエs Ford, 18.
24 Hours of Le Mans: ZF Sachs teams dominate Le Mans
Throughout the 77th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans it was once again the diesel sportscars of Peugeot and Audi which played the starring roles. Victory in the long-distance classic went to the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP of David Brabham, Marc Gen蠡and Alex Wurz. The sister car of S饕astien Bourdais, Franck Montagny and St駱hane Sarrazin was second ahead of the Audi R15 TDI driven by Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish. Both manufacturers rely on ZF Sachs Race Engineering clutch technology for their cars.
The Porsche RS Spyder fielded by Team Essex and driven by Casper Elgaard, Kristian Poulsen and Emmanuel Collard won the LMP2 class. The open sportscar is equipped with a clutch and dampers from Schweinfurt. In the GT1 class the Aston Martin DBR9 entered by team Jetalliance claimed third place. A ZF Sachs clutch is used in the British sportscar driven by Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Alex M竫ler and Thomas Gruber.
Result 24 Hours of Le Mans (F), 13.06.-14.06.2009:
1. D. Brabham/M. Gen袞A. Wurz, Peugeot, 24:01:45.443 hrs, ZF Sachs
2. S. Bourdais/F. Montagny/S. Sarrazin, Peugeot, - 1 lap, ZF Sachs
3. R. Capello/T. Kristensen/A. McNish, Audi, - 6 laps, ZF Sachs
4. J. Charouz/T. Enge/S. M礼ke, Lola-Aston Martin, -9 laps.
5. O. Panis/N. Lapierre/S. Ayari, Oreca-AIM, - 12 laps.
6. C. Klien/P. Lamy/N. Minassian, Peugeot, - 13 laps, ZF Sachs
7. N. Karthikeyan/A. Lotterer/C. Zwolsman, Audi, - 13 laps, ZF Sachs
8. C. Tinseau/B. Jouanny/J. Barbosa, Pescarolo-Judd, - 14 laps.
Other results:
Result Zandvoort (NL), round 2, Formula BMW Europe, 12.06.-14.06.2009:
Race 1
1. L. Nasr, BMW, 22:43.833 min, ZF Sachs
2. R. Frijns, BMW, + 0.730 sec, ZF Sachs
3. D. Juncadella, BMW, + 1.308 sec, ZF Sachs
4. F. Regalia, BMW, + 5.529 sec, ZF Sachs
5. J. Harvey, BMW, + 6.935 sec, ZF Sachs
6. K. Manzur, BMW, + 7.229 sec, ZF Sachs
7. J. Jaafar, BMW, + 9.259 sec, ZF Sachs
8. M. Christensen, BMW, + 9.598 sec, ZF Sachs
Race 2
1. J. Harvey, BMW, 25.16.845 min., ZF Sachs
2. L. Nasr, BMW, + 0.068 sec, ZF Sachs
3. D. Juncadella, BMW, + 1.059 sec, ZF Sachs
4. R. Frijns, BMW, + 2.310 sec, ZF Sachs
5. M. Christensen, BMW, + 5.926 sec, ZF Sachs
6. O. Lombard, BMW, + 8.339 sec, ZF Sachs
7. J. Tarancon, BMW, + 13.102 sec, ZF Sachs
8. J. Pla, BMW, + 13.530 sec, ZF Sachs
Drivers・Championship standings:
1. L. Nasr, 110 Punkte; 2. M. Christensen, 80; 3. R. Frijns, 79; 4. D. Juncadella, 76; 5. J. Harvey, 59; 6. J. Jaafar, 44; 7. D. Mengesdorf, 36; 8. J. Pla, 30; 9. J. Taracon, 28; 10. F. Regalia, 27.