Rally of Finland fulfils long-standing dream of Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen

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Applause and cheers seemed to accompany Mikko Hirvonen wherever he went yesterday afternoon after one o’clock. Such treatment is to be expected when you win the Neste Oil Rally Finland, especially if you happen to be a Finn.
      This was the first time Hirvonen claimed victory in the Rally of Finland.
      “This feels as great as the first time I won a WRC race. It is amazing to win at home. There were so many friends cheering me on along the way”, Hirvonen said standing next to his victorious Ford Focus after the final Ruuhimäki special stage.
     
Hirvonen is a native of the nearby municipality of Kannonkoski.
      The Finn’s performance in this year’s Rally of Finland was nothing short of convincing. Hirvonen was fastest on ten of the special stages and was fast particularly when it mattered most.
      On Saturday Hirvonen kept increasing his lead over Sebastien Loeb, who was in second place, until one of the Frenchman’s tyres came off its rim. But even before the incident Hirvonen had already shown himself to be the fastest driver on the gravel of Central Finland.
      “I still tried to drive fast even though Mikko gained some ground on me during Saturday morning’s stages. I was still at a striking distance until the tyre deflated. After that I began to think about the WRC points and made sure that I just finished the race”, the Citroën pilot explained.
      In the end Hirvonen beat Loeb by 25.1 seconds.
      “My heroes Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola, and Tommi Mäkinen have all won here. It was great to make the same list with them”, Hirvonen rejoiced.
     
This was Hirvonen’s tenth WCR victory in total. Loeb, who sat next to him in the press conference, has amassed 52 WCR wins in his career.
      “Yeah, I’ve got 40 or so to go”, Hirvonen laughed.
      The following day the ecstatic winner planned to spend with his family.
      “First I will sleep late, and then I will play with my sons.”
      Hirvonen has two small children.
      To Hirvonen’s co-pilot Jarmo Lehtinen the weekend’s victory was also a major event. “If my memory serves me correctly, the first time I was here watching the Jyväskylä Rally was back in 1977, so this feels quite extraordinary”, Lehtinen enthused.
     
In the Neste Oil Rally Finland the third place was secured by Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) before Spaniard Dani Sordo (Citroën).
      Latvala trailed 49.9 seconds behind Hirvonen.
      “Thank you, Malcolm, for trusting me”, the 23-year-old Latvala said to his Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson, while the men shook hands.
      Before yesterday Latvala’s best result in Jyväskylä had been 14th.
      The Czech Republic’s Martin Prokop (Citroën), in turn, secured the 2009 Junior World Rally Championship title with his convincing win in Finland. A Finnish wild card entry Kalle Pinomäki (Renault) came in second in the race.
      “As a whole this was a very good race, even though Saturday’s breaking of a brake hose did away with our chances of fighting for victory. Still, hopefully this will result in something positive in the future”, said Pinomäki, who clocked the fastest times in seven of the special stages.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Kimi Räikkönen shows up for Rally of Finland; Mikko Hirvonen leads after Friday´s morning stages (31.7.2009)

Links:
  Neste Oil Rally of Finland
  World Rally Championship

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