# 2006 Rally Australia

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.

## Report

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

| 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

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