Post Rally Sweden Q&A: Mikko Hirvonen

A fortnight ago Ford team-leader Mikko Hirvonen promised a new, more aggressive approach for the 2010 WRC season. And after the opening round in Sweden his new attitude seems to be working pretty well, thank you.

Of course it must be nice to start the season with a win - although for Mikko it's a feeling he'd never experienced before - but to be so quick that the six times world champion Sebastien Loeb gives up before the end? That was something new for everybody.

Back home in Finland after his Swedish adventure, Hirvonen talked to wrc.com about the rally and the strategic masterstroke that helped him seal the deal.

Congratulation on win number 12 Mikko, how does it compare to the other 11?
"It was a pretty nice victory, although I still rate Rally Finland as number one. And of course my first victory in Australia was really special, too. But this was a close fight with Sebastien right from the beginning. It was maybe only the third or fourth time we've fought like that all the way through. I managed to win in the end, and to do that when it was so close feels really good."

There's been a lot of talk of your more aggressive, braver approach for this year. What waste bravest thing you did on the rally?
"I guess the risk we took with the tyres on Saturday. Okay, we had a plan already before the rally, about what we were going to do if that situation happened, but the brave thing was sticking to that plan and deciding to go out and see what happened. In the event it was the right thing to do and we gained 12 seconds on Seb."

So you'd worked out that tactical move even before the rally started?
"Yes. But the conditions were even worse than we thought they would be. There was so much gravel that there was a risk we would destroy our tyres before the last stage. But okay, we managed to drive well and save them."

Did you think about adopting the same tyre strategy at that point as Seb?
"We considered it but decided against it. We weren't sure what he was going to do anyway; we just went with what we thought was best."

After SS14 you seemed in a hurry to get away from the stage end. You just said 'the tyres are gone' and drove away - was that part of the game?
[Laughs] "No it wasn't - we just didn't have a lot of time! The road section was very tight and we had a lot of work to do to fit the lamp pods, and switch the tyres around. We had to get going."

How much of your rally win do you owe to that tyre call?
"Well, by driving alone it was already very close, and we were ahead a little bit, but on Saturday those tyre choices changed the whole thing and it meant Sebastien had to push even harder on Sunday morning. The rally win wasn't all about that tyre decisoon, but I'd say it played a big role."

You led in Sweden from the position of first car on the road on Saturday and Sunday, how tough psychologically was that for you?
"It wasn't really. On snow and ice there was never going to be much of a difference between running first and second. It was always going to be more about the driving. That was where the differences were made. I felt that if we could take any seconds out of him then we could just pull further away, even if we were first car on the road."

You'll have to do the same in Mexico now with the Citroen drivers behind, what can you do to keep them there?
"We'll see but it's going to be a tricky one. Obviously in Mexico road cleaning is a bigger deal than it was in Sweden, and if you're first car on the road you're going to be clearing on the first passes though the stages. So yes, it going to be difficult rally, and for sure we're going to lose some time Friday, but we'll see if there's anything we can do about it."

On the final day of the rally, Sebastien openly gave up on challenging you. Have you known him do that before?
"Not often, no. But okay, he said that he didn't manage to take enough seconds on one stage, and he nearly went off on the next stage trying to do the same. So I suppose he thought it was better to take the points you can, rather than go off the road and lose everything."

But did you believe him when he said he'd given up?
"Not straight away, no. I kept a close eye on his split times though the next 10km stage just to make sure that he wasn't playing around. Only after I took another nine seconds out of him was I satisfied that he couldn?t catch me any more. That's when I decided to slow down a little."

How do you rate the performance of your countryman, Kimi Raikkonen?
"I haven't gone through all the times yet, but from what I know he made a few mistakes but also put in some pretty good stage times. I suppose it shows exactly what we expected before the rally; it's not that easy to get used to pace notes and mistakes will happen because it tales time to learn. Everybody knows he can drive and those times show that. There's still a long way to go bit the speed is there."

Will he get on the WRC podium this year do you reckon?
"That's difficult to say. It depends how fast he learns and how much he trusts his notes. We'll see, rally by rally how he does."

And how was it to have your former team-mate Marcus Gronholm back in the Ford service area?
It was very good to see him again and be back in the same team together. He's a good guy and a good laugh to have around. It was also useful to get his thoughts on the car."

How did you think he got on?
"Not bad. Maybe it wasn't as good as he was expecting but it's tough to come back like that. In tests, okay, you can get the speed because you know the road really well. But on the rally I think he found it surprisingly difficult to find the right rhythm. Give him one or two rallies more and I think he might be up to speed on every stage, but when the rhythm was changing he found it a difficult.

What's in your diary between now and Mexico?
"Nothing much. We have a three day test planned in Spain the week before Mexico. After that we'll be focussed on getting ready for the rally."

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Photo: Willy Weyens