Mikko Hirvonen heads to Mexico for the win!

The young Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen is currently leading the 2008 World Rally Championship.

The BP Ford driver, thanks to his second place in Sweden, is indeed 6 points ahead of Loeb and Latvala in the championship and promises to do everything from tomorrow for the shakedown in Mexico (the third round of the WRC season) to maintain this lead.

Winning in Mexico will nevertheless be a complicated task for the No. 3. He leads the WRC for the first time in his career and will therefore start first at the Rally Mexico, clearing the way for his competitors. The Finnish driver, in just three participations, has already stood on the podium, in 2007, behind Loeb and Gronholm.

« Being first on the road is not the best position to have in Mexico because there is dust and stones on the surface of the road », explains the 27-year-old Finn.

« It is preferable to start later to take advantage of a cleaner road. But I won’t complain if it means that I lead the championship. »

I really don’t want to open the road on Saturday and Sunday. It will be interesting to see if tactics come into play at the end of the first day so that the drivers get a better position for the rest of the weekend, he adds.

Hirvonen prepared for the event with a testing session at Chateau-Lastours in France. The Finn spent two days in the Focus RS, improving the settings and testing new developments. This session was Hirvonen’s first opportunity to try the new ‘Scorpion’ tires from Pirelli. He covered nearly 400 kilometers without a puncture.