Mikko Hirvonen took his second World Rally Championship victory in
convincing fashion, taking the lead of the first Rally Norway on the very
first stage and never looking back. Hirvonen led a Ford 1-2-3 finish in
the rally, with his Ford Focus RS WRC teammate Marcus Gronholm in second
and Henning Solberg in a Stobart M-Sport Focus in third.
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Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen. Photo by xpb.cc.
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"I value this more than than Australian victory," Hirvonen said,
referring to his first WRC career win in Rally Australia last year.
"I've led since the start and battled with Marcus and Loeb since Friday
morning. I've beaten them both here fair and square after a great fight.
Although I won in Australia last year, I didn't have to overcome their
challenge then so I regard this as my first 'real' WRC win."
The junior driver on the Ford squad, Hirvonen was not intimidated by the
challenge of two-time champion Gronholm or three-time champion Sebastien
Loeb, but attacked strongly, driving at his own pace throughout the
rally. With few drivers familiar with the roads near Lillehammer, no
one had had advantage at the start, and Hirvonen was able to use his
natural speed in the heavy snow conditions.
Driving mistake-free throughout the event, Hirvonen did not target fast
stage times, winning only three further stages after the first one --
where he set the tone with an 11.2-second margin to Gronholm.
Starting today's final leg, which would again pass through some of the
toughest stages in the rally, he held a 19.3-second lead, and that was
easily enough to avoid taking unnecessary risks. Easing off on the final
stage, 44.27-km Eleverum, Hirvonen still crossed the line 9.5 seconds
ahead of his more experienced teammate.
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Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen. Photo by xpb.cc.
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"Neither Marcus nor I had to drive at maximum speed today," he
explained. "But in those circumstances it's easy to relax and make a
mistake. I tried to concentrate on every single corner and followed
Marcus' split times. The stages were so enjoyable but at the same time
they were extremely difficult. Yesterday we had blizzard conditions on
one test and I don't think I've ever driven a stage like that."
Gronholm may not have been quite able to keep up with Hirvonen, but
he had an edge over everyone else, holding a steady second position
throughout the rally and scoring four stage wins even with his focus on
the eight championship points that he could gain over Loeb.
"I would have preferred a win, but second is quite good since Loeb didn't
score any points. I'm leading the drivers' championships and BP-Ford leads
the manufacturers' series so it doesn't get any better," commented the Finn.
"It was a difficult weekend with plenty of snow and narrow roads,"
Gronholm continued. "I wasn't completely happy with my own performance
because I couldn't find a perfect rhythm. But looking at the last two
weeks as a whole, I have to be happy to take a win and a second place."
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Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Sebastien Loeb, not score any points? Indeed, Loeb completed the rally in
14th place, his worst WRC finish since the 2001 Rally of Great Britain,
when he was still driving a Citroen Saxo.
Loeb attacked mercilessly throughout the rally, scoring eight stage
wins -- as many as Hirvonen and Gronholm put together -- but taking
risk after risk. And the risks did not pay off: Loeb missed a turn
on Friday's SS5 and stalled his Citroen C4 WRC on SS6, and then hit
snowbanks in three consecutive stages on Saturday, dropping far back
from the leaders. Over 18 minutes from the front is not where one
expects to see the defending world champion.
To make matters worse for the Citroen team, Daniel Sordo was struggling in
the snow, and eventually had to abandon his car after getting stuck in a
ditch. While he was able to restart under the SupeRally rules, the end
result was a 25th place, 34 minutes off the leaders, and not a single
manufacturers' championship point for the Citroen factory team to take home.
Rather, it was Ford's weekend in the Norwegian mountains, and Henning
Solberg underscored that point in his Stobart M-Sport-entered Ford Focus
RS WRC, taking third place and his second career podium in a stonking
drive in his home event. The five-time Norwegian rally champion battled
with his younger brother, Petter, throughout event, and finally clinched
the position on today's final leg.
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Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. Photo by Citroën Communication.
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"I am so happy with my result and in front of my home country in Norway
it just feels amazing," he beamed. "It was something special to battle
with Petter, he is a great driver and I know he was going flat out also.
We have had a good rally, really trying our best the whole way through
and it has paid off to push for the podium today. I am so happy with my
result."
Henning had cut his brother's lead down to 9.9 seconds on Saturday's
final stages, and with today's stages passing through the Mountain,
Ringsaker and Elverum, three of the toughest stages of the rally, the
opportunity was there. And the elder Solberg brother was not about to
let it slip through his fingers: on Mountain, the first stage of the
day, he set the second-fastest time, 3.3 seconds behind Loeb, and turned
that 9.9-second deficit to a 10.1-second edge.
Starting the final stage, Henning was 16 seconds in front of his brother,
when disaster struck: he stalled his Focus at the start, losing valuable
seconds before he could restart the engine and set off on a furious
drive to ensure a third-place finish. And achieve it he did, beating
Petter on the stage by half a second in spite of the stall, and securing
the podium spot by 16.5 seconds.
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Henning Solberg and Cato Menkerud. Photo by xpb.cc.
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"I had a stall at the start which lost me lots of seconds and I was
worried it was going to be very close," explained Henning. "I was driving as
hard as I could on that last stage, I mean really pushing as hard as I
ever have! The car was off the road more than it was on it!"
For Petter, piloting a works Subaru Impreza WRC, it was one of the best
rallies in recent memory, and an epic Solberg-Solberg fight, even if he
ended up on the losing side. And, with no hard feelings after the fight,
he joined his brother for the third-place celebration on the hood of
Henning's car at the finish.
"It was a shame that Henning got past me, but I'm still happy with
this result in the circumstances," the 2003 WRC champion reflected.
"We couldn't have gone any quicker. We have been very realistic about
what we can achieve on this rally and we have followed our strategy
accordingly. The main thing was for us to finish in the points and not
make any mistakes."
The Subaru team has struggled through much of 2006 and 2007, and being
in a straight fight for a podium position was an encouraging sign. With
the strong finish in Norway and the impending debut of the Impreza
WRC2007, the mood is improving as the team hopes to be in contention for
both the drivers' and manufacturers' titles this year yet.
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Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Notably 89.6 seconds behind Petter was yet another Ford, driven by yet
another Finn, this time the 20-year-old Jari-Matti Latvala in a second
Stobart M-Sport Focus WRC. Latvala drove a strong event, setting the
fast time on SS5 and keeping up with the pace of the Solbergs.
If it had not been for a 90-second penalty he incurred on Friday for
not completing service on time, Latvala would have been in the thick of
the fight for third place. But with the penalty on the books, Latvala
focused on bringing his car home and scoring the points for Stobart
M-Sport.
"There was no battle for us to worry about so we just made our own speed
and concentrated on finishing the rally," Latvala explained. "Everything
was working so well with the car this weekend I am very impressed with
it. It was unfortunate to have the problems on Friday but I am still
very happy because we had two difficult rallies at the start of the
year, so it is good to finish up in fifth and get some points for the
team and myself."
With the top five places locked down by Ford and Subaru, the fight for
sixth place ended up being a Citroen-Mitsubishi affair on the final day.
Manfred Stohl (OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara) was in the driver's seat to
start the day, with Gigi Galli in a personally-entered Xsara some ten
seconds adrift. Xavier Pons, in a 2005-spec Mitsubishi Lancer, held down
eighth while the second OMV Kronos car, Daniel Carlsson, was some twenty
seconds away from that final points-paying position.
There was no quarter given, as it all came down to the final pass
through Eleverum. With both Galli and Stohl pushing hard, it was a
question of whose risks would pay off and who would pay the price. In
the event, it was Stohl who drew the short straw, getting stuck in a
snowbank early in the stage.
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Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini. Photo by xpb.cc.
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"We gave our all on Sunday," Stohl summed things up. "It's a fine line
between success and retirement under these conditions. Galli had been
only 12.7 seconds behind us prior to the last SS. I absolutely wanted to
keep him on distance. Unfortunately this didn't work out."
The same pattern played out behind them, too. Carlsson was only 7.4
seconds adrift to start the stage, and had held a 12.5-second edge over
Pons on the Mountain stage early in the day, so Pons had to give it his
all if he were to ensure a championship point.
As things unfolded, with Stohl in a snowbank, Pons could have allowed
Carlsson past and still scored a point himself -- but it was too late
for the Spaniard, who had found his own snowbank already. With Stohl
dropping 10 minutes on the stages as well, Carlsson was able to claim a
comfortable seventh place in the end.
"We changed the set-up of the car from Saturday to Sunday and things
went slightly better," the 30-year-old Swede explained. "To me that is
a sign that we now get along better with the Citroen Xsara WRC and that
the completed kilometres were not in vain. That we managed to overtake
Pons in the end makes me very happy. Seventh overall place means that
the rally had a conciliatory ending, after all."
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Daniel Calsson and Denis Giraudet. Photo by xpb.cc.
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And the final point, then? Jan Kopecky, in the only Skoda Fabia WRC
entry, took another point for the second time in three events -- an
impressive performance for the tarmac specialist.
The point standings have Gronholm taking the lead three events
into the season, with 24 points to Hirvonen's 20, and Loeb a further two
points behind Hirvonen. On the manufacturers' side, Ford holds a 44-28
edge over Citroen.
With six consecutive gravel events coming up, the big question will be
how well the new Citroen C4 will perform on gravel, where Ford's two
Finns certainly feel at home. And, with Subaru's new car, will Petter
Solberg be able to mix it up with Gronholm, Hirvonen and Loeb?
Join us for our Rally Mexico coverage in three weeks' time to find out.
