Hirvonen: It’s really disappointing

Q: Mikko, it has been a strong weekend and relatively drama free for you, until the final stage! What happened?

I don’t know. We don’t know what is the reason for the puncture. We were on a long straight then we have the big vibration and I knew we would lose the tyre sooner rather or later. It’s really disappointing. It was quite a good weekend until that – we were comfortable in second. These things happen, but this year it’s really often. It’s been a long year so far...

Q: Were you happy with your pace across the weekend?

It’s been alright I think. It’s what we can do at the moment. Friday was good considering qualifying was bad and we did not have the ideal place on the road. The start of the rally was really good to get into second on the first day.

Q: There are still three rallies left this year. What can you do?

Let’s see. Like Thierry said, it’s been a really nice season – there have been more drivers fighting and this makes it more exciting. I still have the chance to fight for second in the Drivers’ Championship, but it’s going to be tough.

Q: When did you realise you could not catch Seb?

It was probably on Saturday morning. I felt like he was playing with us – the splits were really close: I was ahead, then he was ahead. The pace was comfortable, but then if we pushed harder we could make mistakes. I knew by driving I couldn’t catch him on Saturday morning.