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Hirvonen picks up six world championship points in Argentina

7 May 2007

Six world championship points and a lot of experience of the difficult and varying conditions of the Argentinean rally were Mikko Hirvonen’s haul from the season’s sixth WRC rally. Third place behind Sebastien Loeb and Marcus Grönholm was the best result in Argentina in the career of the driver from Kannonkoski.

“All in all, it was quite a competition. The timetable was completely rearranged on Thursday.
Friday was spent in the hotel as I watched videos of the forthcoming special stages. We only got to drive properly on Saturday,” explained Hirvonen.

The rally’s schedule was totally reorganised after the special stage for the public in Buenos Aires. The cars and drivers were transferred in three planes the 700 kilometres to the Cordoba area, where the rally was actually driven. The third plane only made it on Friday afternoon as a result of a problem with the radar in Buenos Aires and fog in Cordoba. The other two arrived on Thursday afternoon.

“For Friday’s leg, we only got to drive the stage for the public in Cordoba. On Saturday, when we really got down to business, it was difficult to find the same pace as Sebastien and Marcus. They have so much more experience of these roads. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t reach the same speed. Also, Petter Solberg overtook me during Saturday’s stage, but then dropped out of the race because his engine broke down, after which there were no other serious contenders for third spot in Sunday's special stage,” recounted Hirvonen.


“The roads in Argentina vary a lot, which, in a way, is great. There’s no shortage of challenges, but without solid experience you can't drive at 110 per cent. Also, as was the case with the rally in Argentina in general, it rained during the competition. In places there was so much fog that there were times when you couldn't see a thing. The choice of tyres worked. We used a soft compound tyre, which worked well on both gravel and the slippery mud,” says Hirvonen.

After the rally in Argentina, the WRC series continues with the rally in Sardinia, where Hirvonen came second last year.

“In Sardinia, all the top drivers have more or less the same experience of the roads there. It should be possible to try and keep up with Sebastien and Marcus. It won’t be easy but we did a test drive for the competition in Sardinia before leaving for Argentina and after that the car was at least performing well,” says Hirvonen.

Hirvonen is placed third in the drivers’ WRC series. He is eight points behind second place Grönholm, who, in turn, is three points behind series leader Loeb.

The Italian WRC will take place on the island of Sardinia from 18–20 May.