Mikko Hirvonen has vowed to give it his best shot during the second half of the year to try and stop
Sebastien Loeb from taking the drivers' crown for the fifth year in succession.
Hirvonen is currently top in the drivers' championship, three points up on Seb, following his tactical win on the Rally of Turkey at the start of June - the last round in the World Rally Championship prior to the long summer break.
Mikko's thoughts are now turning to the second half of the season though and he is optimistic about his prospects: "It has been a fantastic first half. We are leading and I think it is going to be an interesting fight now in the second half of the season," he predicted in an exclusive interview with
Crash.net Radio at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed. "It is going to be really exciting.
"It is 50:50 - anything can happen. There are four gravel rallies coming up and I know I am going to be strong on those events. If I do well on the tarmac rounds too there is a chance [I can win the title].
"It is going to be very difficult. Seb has been the man to beat on tarmac for the last two to three years. But we will see what I can do. I am really going to give it my best shot."
Asked if he expected to be in this position at the halfway point, Mikko conceded that while he thought it was possible, he knew it wouldn't be easy: "I thought if everything goes perfectly we had a chance to fight against Sebastien. It's not been perfect, but he has had some problems as well," he added.
"I think we have just been consistent enough scoring points in every rally and here we leading. Both the Focus and the C4 are very reliable and that is why we are so close in the points. We haven't had any problems really with the car to slow us down. That is one of the key things nowadays."
The World Rally Championship heads to Finland next and Mikko is eager to try and do well in front of his home fans. Indeed ideally he will want to go one better than last year, when he was runner-up to ex-team-mate and ex-Ford team leader Marcus Gronholm.
