Hirvonen takes advantage of the circumstances… but remains very disappointed!

Mikko Hirvonen is currently leading the WRC driver’s championship. The Finn achieved good podiums in Monaco and Sweden before finishing the rally in Mexico, which took place this weekend, in fourth position. Disappointed, the BP Ford driver hopes he has experienced his most challenging rally of the 2008 season.

Hirvonen indeed had a 6-point lead over Loeb before Mexico, the third round of the championship. Today, he has only one point left following Loeb’s victory on Sunday, but he remains confident for the rest of the season. The young Finn, just named No. 1 in the team after Marcus Gronholm’s retirement, had a complicated first day, opening the track and sweeping the dirt.

He then got a puncture on the second day, occupying the 5th position, before regaining fourth place from Henning Solberg during the penultimate stage, taking advantage of a puncture by the Finn.

« I was trying to catch up with Henning [Solberg] but with the cancellation of SS18, I decided to ease off because I didn’t have enough kilometers left, » says Hirvonen.

« I was lucky to be able to take advantage of his problems to finish fourth and take some important points after a difficult weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my rally. Jari-Matti [Latvala] and Loeb were very fast. I couldn’t keep up with their pace. I’ll need to find a bit more speed or I’ll have to say goodbye to the championship. »

« I didn’t have any luck with the punctures, but fourth is a good result in such circumstances. I hope I’ve had my worst rally of the year. Unfortunately, I’ll have to open the road again in the next event in Argentina, but it’s good to still be leading the championship. »

The Finn, with a one-point lead over Loeb, will have to open the dusty trails of the Rally Argentina once again, in about a month.