Ponsse has sponsored Mikko Hirvonen since the spring of 2004, the driver’s first world championship season for Subaru giving him so much valuable experience that he can barely imagine a better World Rally Team in which to mature into a champion than that of Subaru,  headquartered in the UK. During the 2004 season, Hirvonen was mentored by stable mate and reigning world champion Petter Solberg. This year Mikko Hirvonen is driving Ford’s WRC car with the aim of impressing manufacturers’ team managers.

Hirvonen regards number one driver Solberg as a willing, generous teacher, ‘Peter has helped me immeasurably, never holding information back’, Hirvonen recalls.The team management understands novice drivers well, hiring Solberg as a young talent equivalent to Hirvonen to groom the Norwegian into a world champion. Now Hirvonen is undergoing the same process, a number two driver growing into a WRC race winner, and only the future will reveal what kind of car will be driven when Hirvonen’s time comes. ‘Arriving in the wake of Tommi Mäkinen has given me a great deal to live up to, and I’ve had to live with some pressure since the team’s number two driver needs to notch up world championship points consistently in all races,’ Hirvonen explains. Mikko faces major challenges in the current season, driving Ford’s WRC car in six rallies, with the aim of impressing manufacturers’ team managers. ‘The sole aim of any WRC race is to succeed as well as possible’, Hirvonen states. His programme includes driving in the Sardinian rally in Italy, the Acropolis rally in Greece, the Neste Rally in Jyväskylä, the British rally and the Catalonian Rally in Spain. ‘The key is succeeding in the other rallies in addition to the Neste Rally, where it tends to be a foregone conclusion that a Finn will do well’, Hirvonen ponders. Having driven in WRC races for two years, last season Hirvonen received the opportunity to gather valuable experience as the number two driver in the Subaru manufacturer’s team, as team mate to world champion Petter Solberg. ‘I received valuable training and experience of being a team member and racing, as well as realising that regular tests are the key to remaining among the WRC frontrunners’, Hirvonen explains.

Impressed by Portuguese Rally

During the current season, Hirvonen has garnered experience of three international rallies, failing in the Swedish WRC due to the wrong kind of rims. On the other hand, the WRC Italian rally held close to Venice and the Portuguese rally, a candidate for a return to the WRC, brought fine results and invaluable experience. ‘During the Swedish rally, we went through almost 12 sets of rims, due to using the wrong type’, Hirvonen relates. In Portugal he came second in his Group N Subaru, clocking up two fastest times, and notched up a Group N win in the Italian rally. ’Portugal’s gravel roads were fantastic, with long, wide, special test runs and extremely fast in patches. Each and every car had to be stretched to its limit, and it was great to see how fast a Group N car can go’, Hirvonen recollects, ’Daniel Carlsson, the winner, was untouchable, and I can’t blame my failure to win the rally on the two special tests I drove without turbos at the beginning of the competition.’ Hirvonen believes that the Portuguese rally has everything in place for a return to the WRC. ’It genuinely has something to contribute to the WRC, with roads which differentiate it from other European rallies, lacking the latters’ rocky characteristics, and the organisation was effective’, Hirvonen enthuses.

Working for Mäkinen

In addition to racing, Jyväskylä resident Hirvonen has been working for fourtimes world champion Tommi Mäkinen’s firm, which specialises in importing and developing Group N Subarus and all kinds of customer events, in which Hirvonen is often the driver.

‘In this way I keep up to speed between competitions, while also taking time to stay in condition. During longer breaks between races, staying sharp is vital, in order to hit the ground running from the first special test’, Hirvonen adds.