Ponsse Oyj and Mikko Hirvonen cooperate

Mikko Hirvonen (born in Kannonkoski, Finland on 31 July 1980)

Mikko Hirvonen drove his first race in an Opel Kadett in Laihia, Finland, in 1998. The Neste Rally of Finland in 2001 was his first WRC Rally, in which Hirvonen drove to 21st place in a Renault Clio.

In 2003 Hirvonen drove a full WRC series for the Ford World Rally Team. The season mainly involved learning about the different races, with Hirvonen’s best result a 6th place at the Cyprus Rally. In the following season Hirvonen again drove a full season of races, this time in a Subaru, with a 4th place finish his best for the season. At the end of the season Subaru did not offer Hirvonen a new contract, forcing him to start looking for a new team. During 2005 Hirvonen drove six WRC races, five in a private team Ford and one behind the wheel of a Skoda. His best finish was 3rd place at the Catalonia Rally. In the 2006 season Hirvonen went back to the Ford World Rally Team. His team mate is Finland’s Marcus Grönholm. Hirvonen’s long-time co-pilot is Jarmo Lehtinen.

Hirvonen is very pleased with his new sponsor
”It is really wonderful that a Finnish company such as Ponsse, which has succeeded internationally in its own field, has chosen to support my future career,” Hirvonen says happily.

Cooperation between Ponsse and the now 25-year-old Hirvonen is not new. Ponsse supported the younger Hirvonen during his first steps in the world of rally a few years ago. In addition, Ponsse and Hirvonen have been closely involved in another way.

”When I was still in school, I used to work summers in the repair shop of a forest machine company, and of course I became familiar with the machines. What is more, my father is a forest machine driver and drives a Ponsse machine,” says Hirvonen.
“One of the strengths of the relationship with Mikko is that Ponsse has a history of supporting his racing career. A very important factor is the fact that Mikko’s father works using Ponsse’s forest machines; Mikko really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to forest machines. Through Mikko we wish to convey to the young as positive an image as possible of competent forest machine contractors and drivers,” says Arto Tiitinen, Managing Director of Ponsse Oyj.

Read more:
Rally runs in the family