Hirvonen takes Monte Carlo Rally win
Saturday, 23 January 2010Finland's two-time world rally championship runner-up Mikko Hirvonen won the Monte Carlo Rally after leading from start to finish in the IRC opener.
The 29-year-old Fiesta Ford driver - winner of 11 Rallys on the superior level World Rally Championship (WRC) circuit - won by nearly two minutes over compatriot Juho Hanninen, driving a Skoda, while Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz was third in another Skoda.
Hirvonen's victory was virtually assured, barring a catastrophe, when another Frenchman and last year's winner Sebastien Ogier had to retire just before the penultimate special stage of the event.
The Peugeot driver had earlier on Friday looked to have the momentum to repeat his victory after he moved to within 46 seconds of Hirvonen after winning the opening stage on the third and final day.
'I wasn't sure I was going to win till I heard that Ogier had retired,' confessed Hirvonen.
'Because I knew that he would continue to attack till the end and that a Monte Carlo Rally is never over.'
As he did last year, Ogier recorded the quickest time in a stage that took place between Montauban and l'Ouveze-Eygalayes in his home region of Hautes-Alpes.
Ogier's retirement made him the 20th driver to pull out of the race of the 59 that started out - the experienced Toni Gardemeister (Fiat Abarth) had quit the race earlier on Friday after his car refused to start at the beginning of the 11th special.
It was Hirvonen's first victory in the Monte Carlo Rally and was a maiden win for the Fiesta on its debut competitive appearance.
Hirvonen joins such greats as France's multi-time world champion Sebastien Loeb, who won the Rally five times, and another Finnish pilot Marcus Gronholm, winner in 2006 - though both of them won when the Rally was part of the WRC circuit and was the traditional curtain raiser.
However, even if the IRC version is more lightly regarded a victory it didn't matter a jot to Hirvonen.
'Even if it is the IRC, it is still the Monte-Carlo, therefore I am very happy to have won it,' beamed Hirvonen.
