Hirvonen has a bitter feeling of powerlessness

Mikko Hirvonen has been crowned with Ford since the Rally of Ireland, but the Finn isn’t really sure what he can do this weekend to help his compatriot and teammate Marcus Gronholm win the title.

Indeed, Ford is counting on its crew in the official team or at Stobart to help Gronholm win a title by keeping Sébastien Loeb sufficiently out of the top 5 positions, which would mean a fourth title for the Frenchman.

He commented: « About Marcus Gronholm, I’m not sure what to do to help him… Loeb will be champion even if he finishes first and I’m second if he finishes third, fourth or even fifth… »

« I’m going to try to put pressure on him, but for that, he would need to fight with us and I don’t think he will… »

« We can only hope that by being careful, he makes a mistake… » Continued the Finn.

Loeb doesn’t like leaving without a fight, so he can more easily make a mistake… at least that’s what Ford is hoping.

« We must wait to see how Loeb behaves, but he may not be comfortable with his current position… »

« Nevertheless, we have never seen him finish 6th in a rally, so I don’t think that will be the case this weekend either… »