Mikko Hirvonen has admitted that he was a 'little disappointed' with his form on the Rally d'Italia Sardegna last weekend, despite doing enough to keep himself top in the drivers' championship.
Hirvonen finished second on the Olbia-based event, the sixth round in the World Rally Championship, just 10.6 seconds behind eventual winner and arch rival,
Sebastien Loeb.
The 27-year-old's chief concern though was his pace on day one, when he was first in the start order and struggled for speed - something he freely admits he is 'working on' and will need to improve, especially as he will be in exactly the same position at the end of this month in Greece.
"I needed more speed on Friday but apart from that, this was a good rally," said the
BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT #1.
"If I continue to lead the championship and be first in the start order, then I need to find more speed on the first day when conditions are slippery.
"I'm a little disappointed but if I can't win, then I need to take second and that's what I did here."
As for when he opted to settle for second, he noted that a scare in the second stage on Sunday made him think twice.
"The first stage this morning was great [and I took 10 seconds out of Seb's lead] but I went off the road briefly on the next about 1km after the start. I hit a rock and didn't know what damage I had done so I knew I had to ease off slightly," he continued.
"I thought I had a puncture but Pirelli's tyres are strong and the rubber stayed inflated. At one point I was worried I wouldn't make the finish.
"This afternoon I started to go flat out to try to take time from Loeb, but I realised it wasn't going to happen so I decided not to take any more risks and dropped my pace. Jari-Matti [Latvala]'s split times were good though so I couldn't ease off too much."
