Hirvonen wraps up win in Greece

Eurosport - Sun, 14 Jun 21:36:00 2009

Finn Mikko Hirvonen sealed a comfortable victory in the 56th Acropolis Rally of Greece after holding off the challenge of Sebastien Ogier.

2009 Grece Hirvonen Ford - 0

The win allowed Hirvonen to close the gap on WRC leader Sebastien Loeb, who crashed out on Saturday, to seven points in the overall standings ahead of the eighth round of the WRC, the Rally of Poland, which starts on June 26.

Hirvonen's team mate Jari-Matti Latvala took third place in the rally after finishing 32.1 seconds behind Ogier, completing a remarkable recovery after going off the road on Friday's

opening day and allowing Ford to earn a maximum 18 points in the manufacturers' championship.

"I drove cleverly, no punctures, no mistakes, it was fantastic," said Hirvonen. "If you get through a difficult rally like this without suffering problems, you are the winner. Now we are back in the fight (for the championship)."

Hirvonen began the final day holding a commanding lead of 1:40 over Ogier and the Finn's cautious but trouble-free drive in the difficult gravel conditions earned him victory.

After four second-place finishes this year, the win reinvigorated his battle with Loeb, who has won the last five WRC titles and was 17 points ahead before the Greece Rally.

Loeb escaped unhurt on Saturday when his car careered off the track and rolled over several times after he hit a rock. His Citroen team mate Dani Sordo was also forced to retire when he broke a rear wheel on a rock.

On Sunday, Ogier's car sustained front-end damage when it hit a cow on the Aghii Theodori 14th stage but the Frenchman was able to continue.

The penultimate stage of the event was cancelled on safety grounds because of the unexpectedly large number of spectators along the 8.98-km route.

Acropolis Rally results:

1. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford 4hrs 09:42.500

2. Sebastien Ogier (France) Citroen 01:12.900

3. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Ford 01:45.000

4. Federico Villagra (Argentina) Ford 03:48.300

5. Conrad Rautenbach (Zimbabwe) Citroen 03:59.800

6. Khalid Al Qassimi (United Arab Emirates) Ford 07:04.300

7. Mads Ostberg (Norway) Subaru 12:24.900

8. Lambros Arthanassoulas (Greece) Skoda 12:47.600

9. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar) Subaru 13:09.900

10. Armindo Araujo (Portugal) Mitsubishi 15:04.500

WRC championship standings:

1. Sebastien Loeb (France) 55 points

2. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) 48

3. Daniel Sordo (Spain) 31

4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) 25

5. Henning Solberg (Norway) 21

6. Petter Solberg (Norway) 20

7. Matthew Wilson (Britain) 15

8. Federico Villagra (Argentina) 14

9. Sebastien Ogier (France) 13

10. Conrad Rautenbach (Zimbabwe) 7

11. Mads Ostberg (Norway) 7

12. Khalid Al Qassimi (United Arab Emirates) 6

13. Evgeny Novikov (Russia) 4

14. Chris Atkinson (Australia) 4

15. Urmo Aava (Estonia) 1

16. Lambros Arthanassoulas (Greece) 1

17. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar) 1

Constructor standings:

1. Citroen Total WRT 94 points

2. BP-Ford Abu-Dhabi WRT 79

3. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT 49

4. Citroen 24

5. Munchi's Ford WRT 18

Reuters

Comment 1 - 8 of 8

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  1. What a diverse range of nationalities the drivers are.­ Great to see. I remember the days when all the top­ drivers came from Scandinavia. Now it doesn't­ matter where you live! Nice to see Hirvonen get a win,­ well deserved.

    From Arthur ` C, on Mon 15 Jun 2:02PM

  2. And the fact that Mikko Hirvonen, although talented,­ just doesn't have 'IT' the way Loeb and­ Latvala does

    From Reefgirl, on Mon 15 Jun 8:23AM

  3. The Fords are still underpowered and overweight in­ comparison to the Citroen. Really think Mal Wilson­ needs to get some serious engineers into the garage and­ fix this problem because without at least another 30 to­ 40 HP their drivers wont catch the froggy

    From Rob, on Mon 15 Jun 6:21AM

  4. crnjakjurica: Unfortunate but true

    From Reefgirl, on Sun 14 Jun 4:36PM

  5. some bad luck for champion loeb,but its the only way to­ win for hirvonen,on the road he couldnt beat him in­ million time

    From crnjakjurica, on Sun 14 Jun 4:11PM

  6. Athunassoulas - good job pustis - should have been­ higher up!

    From Rob, on Sun 14 Jun 10:56AM

  7. Novikov - IMPRESSIVE for a novice - very very­ impressive!

    From Rob, on Sun 14 Jun 10:56AM

  8. I blogged here about how had this rally is (having done­ it three times!) and I was right about the Fords­ winning it. I also stated that a couple of monster­ stages will EAT some cars - didnt expect 4 in one go­ tho - lol including That darned frog - glad your safe­ seb and co - but you of all people know this rally­ takes no prisoners!

    From Rob, on Sun 14 Jun 10:55AM
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