Mikko Hirvonen
2014 | |
| Co-driver |  Jarmo Lehtinen Miikka Anttila |
|---|---|
| Teams | Citroën, Ford, Subaru, Škoda, M-Sport |
| Rallies | 163 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 15 |
| Podiums | 69 |
| Stage wins | 260 |
| Total points | 1210 |
| First rally | 2002 Rally Finland |
| First win | 2006 Rally Australia |
| Last win | 2012 Rally Italia Sardegna |
| Last rally | 2014 Wales Rally GB |
Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980) is a
Career
2002–05
Hirvonen won the under 2000 cc
After
2006–07
It was Hirvonen's showings on such events that brought him back to the attention of Ford, whose factory arm signed him for the
In the
2008–14
On 17 December, Hirvonen was officially named as the number one BP-Ford Abu Dhabi factory driver for the
Hirvonen took his second victory of the season in
Loeb soon secured his number one spot in the drivers' championship in
Hirvonen started the
At the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, Hirvonen and Loeb both dropped time on day one in a bid to gain a better road position. After Loeb incurred a puncture, Hirvonen found himself unable to catch teammate Latvala, who had been pushing in front from start to finish.[11] In the following Acropolis Rally in Greece, Hirvonen took his first win of the season. With Loeb crashing out, he reduced the Frenchman's championship lead to seven points.[12] At the following Rally Poland, Loeb crashed again, although recovered to seventh, with Hirvonen winning his second consecutive rally he moved to the top of the standings. In Finland, Hirvonen took the lead on the first proper stage and continued pulling away from Loeb to take his debut win in his home event.[13] A few weeks later, in Australia, Mikko was again in a tight battle with Loeb, where Loeb eventually won. Unfortunately for Loeb his car was found to have rollbar irregularities, as did Dani Sordo and Sébastien Ogier. They were then given 1 minute time penalties, which handed Hirvonen the win and 10 points. Hirvonen led the 2009 Championship by a point from Sebastien Loeb, and needed a win to clinch the title, but a hard landing from a jump on the penultimate stage caused the bonnet hinge to fail, as time ticked by to get rid of the bonnet cover, the Championship was handed to Loeb.[14]
In 2010, Hirvonen continued his partnership with Ford for the last time with the Ford Focus RS WRC before switching to the new 1.6 Ecoboost Ford Fiesta RS WRC in 2011. In 2012, Hirvonen changed his seat to a Citroën DS3 WRC to partner Sebastien Loeb in the Citroën Total World Rally Team.
His first rally win for Citroën was the fourth rally of the 2012 season in Portugal to provisionally take the lead in the championship, but he was later disqualified from the event due to irregularities with the clutch and turbo in his Citroën DS3 WRC.
2013 was a disappointing year for Hirvonen, finishing on the podium just five times, collecting no wins. He ended the season with one of his biggest accidents ever in Wales. He finished the season in 4th place.
On 13 December 2013, it was confirmed Hirvonen would re-join
On 6 November 2014, it was announced that he will retire from the sport, moments before the start of the Wales Rally GB.[15]
2015-present
In 2015, Hirvonen began to compete in rally raid for X-Raid with a Mini Countryman, finishing third at the Baja Aragón with co-driver Michel Périn. In January 2016 he finished fourth at the 2016 Dakar Rally. In the 2016 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, the Finn won the Hungarian Baja and finished third at the eAbu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Baja Aragón, ranking fourth in the overall standings. The driver finished 13th at the 2017 Dakar Rally.
WRC victories
| No. | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  19th Telstra Rally Australia
|
2006
|
Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Focus RS WRC 06 |
| 2 |  2nd Rally Norway
|
2007
| ||
| 3 |  4th Rally Japan
|
Ford Focus RS WRC 07 | ||
| 4 | 63rd Wales Rally of Great Britain
| |||
| 5 |  26th Jordan Rally
|
2008
| ||
| 6 |  9th Rally of Turkey
| |||
| 7 | 5th Rally Japan
|
Ford Focus RS WRC 08 | ||
| 8 |  56th Acropolis Rally of Greece
|
2009
|
Ford Focus RS WRC 09 | |
| 9 |  66th Rally of Poland
| |||
| 10 | 59th Neste Oil Rally Finland
| |||
| 11 | 20th Repco Rally Australia
| |||
| 12 |  58th Rally Sweden
|
2010
| ||
| 13 | 59th Rally Sweden
|
2011
|
Ford Fiesta RS WRC | |
| 14 | 21st Rally Australia
| |||
| 15 | 9º Rally d'Italia Sardegna
|
2012
|
Citroën DS3 WRC |
IRC victories
| No. | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  78ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo
|
2010
|
Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Fiesta S2000 |
Career results
Complete WRC results
IRC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 |  M-Sport Ltd.
|
Ford Fiesta S2000 | MON 1 |
BRA | ARG | CAN | ITA | BEL | AZO | MAD | CZE
|
ITA | SCO | CYP | 11th | 10 |
ERC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | MM Motorsport
|
Ford Fiesta R5 | AZO | CAN | LIE | POL | RMC | CZE
|
CYP 3 |
HUN | 20th | 21 |
Dakar Rally results
| Year | Class | Vehicle | Position | Stages won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cars | Mini
|
4th | 1 |
| 2017 | 13th | 0 | ||
| 2018 | 19th | 0 |
References
- ^ a b "Ford confirms line-up". Crash.net. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ "Ford: We couldn't have asked for more from Mikko". Crash.net. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
- ^ "Hirvonen: I've started season how I wanted". Crash.net. 2008-01-27. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
- ^ "Mikko: I really need to win in Sweden". Crash.net. 2008-02-03. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
- ^ "Mikko: I had no choice but to settle for second". Crash.net. 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
- ^ "Loeb handed dramatic NZ victory". Autosport. 2008-08-31. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
- ^ Hirvonen rolls Archived 2009-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ford: We'll be back". Archived from the original on 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
- ^ "Longest points finish streaks". World Rally Archive. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ Beer, Matt (25 April 2009). "Hirvonen forced to retire in Argentina". Autosport. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ Beer, Matt (24 May 2009). "Latvala ends Loeb's winning streak". Autosport. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ Beer, Matt (14 June 2009). "Hirvonen clinches Acropolis victory". Autosport. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ Beer, Matt (2 August 2009). "Hirvonen secures Finland win". Autosport. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
- ^ HISTORY REVIEW/ Wales Rally GB 2013 - Rally of Legends
- ^ "Mikko Hirvonen says goodbye to rallying". Maismotores.net. R Barros. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
External links
