Ford's Mikko Hirvonen 'so happy' to win in Turkey and take championship lead.

Mikko Hirvonen was delighted with his win on the Rally of Turkey last weekend and said at the finish that it was an especially sweet triumph as he managed to beat his arch championship rival, Sebastien Loeb in a 'straight fight'.

Hirvonen led for pretty much all of the eighth round in the World Rally Championship, and eventually took the honours by 7.9 seconds, while Loeb was third, 17.8 seconds further back.

The win though wasn't entirely straight forward as the 27-year-old employed some strategic driving at the end of the first day, slowing in the final test, to ensure he wouldn't have to run first on the road on the second leg and lose time sweeping away the loose gravel.

In addition, as well as being pushed by Loeb, Mikko also came under pressure from his own team-mate, Jari-Matti Latvala, but in the end he hung on to take the maximum ten points and re-take the lead in the drivers' championship.

"I promised Malcolm Wilson I would lead the championship going into my home rally in Finland next month and I am," reflected the BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT #1. "It was an incredibly hard weekend for drivers, cars and tyres and a great battle with Jari-Matti, which I'm so happy to win.

"It was the right moment for a win because we struggled on the last round in Greece and this is perfect timing. It feels very special to beat a four-time world champion in a straight fight.

"Our tactics worked so well and I didn't panic this morning when I was first on the road and had to sweep the stages. This is my best result because it was such a big team effort. I was so nervous and drove so carefully in the final stage to preserve my tyres. It looks like it will be an exciting championship battle in the second half of the season. Now I just want to go home and see my sons."

Despite his happiness though, he conceded that he thought he might have lost it all in the final stage, the repeat run through the 31.03 kilometre Olympos test - the longest of the event.

"We set a fantastic time in the short stage [SS18]. I managed to take a little time out of Jari-Matti, but Sebastien did a good time as well. I wasn't 100 per cent confident [going into the final test]," he continued. "When we had the first split, 5 kilometres in, and Sebastien caught us by five seconds - I had to push. But then the tyres were going and on the last three kilometres I was so slow. I was sure Jari-Matti would be coming past me."

Hirvonen is now looking forward to his home event and although he will have to wait until after the six-week break for that round, which runs from August 1-3, he is confident he can take his third win of the season there.

"It's definitely going to be special [going to Finland in the lead]. I can't wait to get to the second half of the season and start again. Hopefully we can keep the consistency. That's the key for me, that's what we've been doing. We can fight for the win in Finland and we hope to do the same on tarmac too," he summed-up.