Relief for Ford #1.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi's Mikko Hirvonen has said that he now needs to continue trying to find more speed and more wins following his first triumph of the season on Sunday in Jordan.

Hirvonen put in a tactical drive and while he did have one big moment - when he went off on day 1, the strategy the M-Sport operation adopted worked perfectly and when he and team-mate, Jari-Matti Latvala slowed in the final stage on Saturday it gave Dani Sordo the overnight lead.

More significantly though, it left the Spaniard first in the order on the final leg, the longest of the event, handing the Fords a definite advantage as Dani then had to sweep away the loose gravel, leaving a cleaner and faster line for those behind.

Hirvonen made the most of that and when Latvala had problems in SS18, it was a two-horse race and Mikko made sure he came out top.

The result puts him back in the lead in the race for the 2008 drivers' title, after having slipped behind Sebastien Loeb in Argentina at the end of last month, when he could only finish fifth after going out on day one.

"My strategy paid off but I was nervous in the final stage," he conceded. "No split times were available for Sordo and I didn't know how hard he was pushing.

"I really needed these 10 points and this is a great result for my championship challenge.

"I need to keep my feet on the ground though and continue trying to find more speed and more wins. I've learned how important it is to consistently score points on every rally, but 10 points is perfect.

"It was a tough rally but it's good to lead the series again. When I woke up it was raining but as we were in Jordan I hoped it wouldn't last so that the gravel wasn't dampened down. It stopped quickly, although I expected the driving line to be cleaner.

"It was really slippery, just like the ball-bearing surface in Australia, and hard to keep on the road."

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson meanwhile was impressed with Mikko's performance.

He was also happy to see Jari-Matti Latvala get to the end and finish seventh, in light of the difficulties the 23-year-old had in the first loop on Sunday, when he broke his left rear suspension and had to limp his car through SS18 and SS19 and back to service.

"It was almost a dream weekend, but it was a fantastic team performance," Wilson Sr concluded.

"Our strategy worked perfectly and it's great for Mikko to claim his first win this season and for us to lead both championships again.

"Full credit to Jari-Matti too, for nursing the car back to the service park after his problems."