WRC Rally Australia - Hirvonen triumphs
In the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC, Hirvonen and navigator Jarmo Lehtinen began the final day of the Coffs Coast event 22.7s behind team mate Jari-Matti Latvala. Under team orders, Latvala slowed to enable Hirvonen to take the lead. The result was Hirvonen's first victory in the WRC since his Rally Sweden victory in February, ending Citroen's run of success in the process. Latvala made it a one-two for the Blue Oval, with Petter Solberg third in his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC. Sebastien Loeb was out of contention after rolling hs Citroen on Friday's Brooklana SS4 special stage.
"This is a fantastic feeling and a very important result for the team and for my championship chances," said Hirvonen, 31.
"I have to say a big thank you to my team and also to Jari-Matti for slowing down. I'm back in the game but we have to work really hard now to improve our pace on tarmac [the surface of the next two rounds]."
Latvala, who won a total of nine special stages during the event, was 14.7s behind Hirvonen at the finish.
"Of course it would have been great to have won the rally but it was a great result for the team," a disappointed Latvala said after the rally.
Hirvonen's victory moves him to within 15 points of Loeb at the head of the Drivers' championship table. The Finn was appreciative of the concession by Latvala. Having lost the 2009 WRC Driver's title by a single point, he knows the value of every single championship point. For Ford, Rally Australia marked its second of the 2011 season, andcoincided with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which the Ford marked by carrying memorial stickers on its factory machines.
Of the other notable Ford drivers, Ken Block came home 19th overall in his Monster World Rally Team Fiesta after crashing out on Friday morning. Evgeny Novikov hit trouble on Sunday's Plum Pudding special stage, rolling heavily in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta. Ninth at the time, the Russian was unhurt, but knocked out of the rally.
