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Podium finish for Hirvonen in Rally of New Zealand

2.9.2007

Ford's Mikko Hirvonen finished on the podium in the Rally of New Zealand, the eighth time this season. Due to the wrong choice of tyre on day one, he couldn’t match his second place of last season. Hirvonen is currently third in the WRC series, 11 points behind Sebastien Loeb in second place. Marcus Grönholm, who won in New Zealand, maintains the lead.

- The leading drivers got away from me during the first day. We dropped behind about 20 seconds because we chose the wrong tyre for the first long part of the leg, says Hirvonen.

The longest stage of the WRC Rally, the 43.8 kilometre Waitomo, was driven twice in the first stage of the rally.  Hirvonen lost ground to Grönholm and Sebastien Loeb, who took second place.

- I was driving hard throughout the first day. However, by the end of the day I was 50 seconds behind the lead. As my third place was not threatened, it was wisest to make sure I finished. I wasn’t coasting, however. I was driving hard and I managed to put together some good special stage results, says Hirvonen.

- Success is sometimes decided in the blink of an eye. As was seen in the WRC Rally of Finland, it’s possible to match the pace of the leading drivers. However, I don’t drive so fast, not yet at least, that I can compete with Grönholm or Loeb if I make driving mistakes or the wrong tyre choices, Hirvonen points out.

The next WRC Rally will be the Rally of Catalonia in October. According to Hirvonen, he can win the race.
- I’m going there with the intention to win. It’s a good race, I like the roads there. Before going to Catalonia we’ll do a tarmac test in Corsica, which is really a good thing, he says.