The 2007 Rally Ireland, the first

Rally Ireland Rally Ireland was added to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar in 2007 World Rally Championship season, 2007. It was not part of the 2008 World Rally Championship season, 2008 schedule, ...

and fifteenth round of the

2007 World Rally Championship The 2007 World Rally Championship was the 35th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on 19 January, with the Monte Carlo Rally and ended on 2 December, with the Wales Rally GB. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb won his fourth co ...

, was a motor rally held from 15 to 18 November. It took place over eight

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

on both sides of the border between the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The event started in Stormont,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, and finished in

Mullaghmore, County Sligo Mullaghmore () is a village on the Mullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a holiday destination with a skyline dominated by Benbulbin, Benbulben mountain. It is in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Carbury, Cou ...

Report

The rally began with the first special stage in front of Stormont Castle in Belfast, which

Marcus Grönholm Marcus Ulf Johan "Bosse" Grönholm (born February 5, 1968) is a Finland, Finnish former rallying, rally and rallycross driver, being part of a family of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland lineage. His son, Niclas Grönholm, is an upcoming ...

won Thursday evening. The next day, in the fourth special stage, Grönholm hit a wall hard, and he and co-driver Timo Rautiainen were taken to hospital as a precaution. Both remained unhurt but withdrew from the rally. Citroën driver Sébastien Loeb took a step towards his fourth Drivers' World Championship title, retaking the lead in the drivers' standings. His advantage over his rival Grönholm, who retired on Friday after a serious accident, had been six points before the last round of the world championship. Mikko Hirvonen finished fourth, securing the second manufacturers' world championship title in a row for the Ford team. Jari-Matti Latvala was third, taking his first WRC podium. On Friday, Latvala edged out Hirvonen for third place. He held this position to the finish despite briefly going off the road on Saturday, losing a little time.

Results

Retirements

Eugene Donnelly Eugene Donnelly (born 13 January 1967) is a rally driver from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, who races in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Career Eugene Donnelly has been rallying for 30 years. His first rally was the Cavan Stages Ral ...

- mechanical (SS4); *

- went off the road - hit the wall (SS4); *

Xavier Pons Xavier "Xevi" Pons Puigdillers (born 21 January 1980) is a Spanish rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2003 to 2014. Career Pons started his racing career on motorcycles and won the Spanish enduro national championship ...

- mechanical - engine (SS4); * Andreas Aigner - went off the road (SS7); *

Kris Meeke Kris Meeke (born 2 July 1979) is a British professional rally driver from Northern Ireland, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). He was the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion. His co-driver is Seb ...

- mechanical (SS9); * Andrew Nesbitt - went off the road (SS11); * Gareth Jones - mechanical (SS11); * Ray Breen - went off the road (SS11); * Tim McNulty - mechanical (SS12); *

Manfred Stohl Manfred Stohl (born 7 July 1972, in Vienna) is an Austrian Rallying, rally driver who debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1991. Stohl's co-driver is fellow Austrian Ilka Minor. Career Stohl ventured into rallying following the career pa ...

- mechanical (SS13); * Mark Higgins - rolled (SS16) ; * Leszek Kuzaj - mechanical (SS16); * Patrik Flodin - mechanical (SS17); *

Armindo Araújo Armindo Araújo (born 1 September 1977) is a Portugal, Portuguese Rallying, rally driver. He won the Production World Rally Championship in the 2009 World Rally Championship, 2009 season, repeating the accomplishment in the next year (2010 World R ...

- went off the road (SS19);

Special Stages

All dates and times are GMT (

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

Manufacturers' championship

References

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Rally Ireland