by Rob Wilkins
TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH MIKKO HIRVONEN: CLICK HERE
Mikko Hirvonen finished the first third of the season on a real high, by not only taking his first win of the year in Jordan at the end of last month, but also by re-taking the lead in the race for the 2008 drivers' title.
Crash.net Radio caught up with the
BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT man to see how he is feeling ahead of the next round in Sardinia...
Crash.net:
Mikko, thanks to that victory in the Middle East you now lead the drivers’ championship again, how significant was it?
Mikko Hirvonen:
Of course it was a really important win for me. I lost valuable points in Argentina. It started very well over there, but it didn’t end so well. We lost a lot of points and when Sebastien [Loeb] had his problems in Jordan, it was very important for me to take the win and get back the lead.
Crash.net:
The Ford team played it quite tactically in Jordan - will we see that kind of strategy again on future gravel events?
MH:
Maybe - it depends on the rallies and what the situation is on the Saturday evening because I thought I might gain a bit more on the Sunday morning. But in the end we were fighting against Dani Sordo [who was first on the road] and I beat him by only two seconds in that long stage [SS19 - the first run through the 41.45 km Jordan River test]. The difference really wasn’t as big as we thought. It depends on the situation and how it goes on the other rallies.
Crash.net:
How do you assess the first third of the year for yourself and Ford?
MH:
I have been waiting to win. I was second in Monte Carlo and I was planning to win in Sweden, but Jari-Matti [Latvala - my team-mate] was really, really fast over there. I am glad I managed to get my first win of the year in Jordan and I am back in the lead again [in the drivers’ championship]. That is very good for the whole team.
Crash.net:
It must have been a bit of a relief to get that first win, just how much has it boosted your confidence?
MH:
It did a little bit of course. But to be honest Sebastien was very fast on Saturday morning and he was getting away. I am sure it would have been difficult to fight against him. But we managed to change the car a little bit on the Sunday and now we have a test before Sardinia and so I am pretty confident. I am sure we can find some more speed and maybe get even closer to Sebastien in the coming rallies.
