Q&A: Mikko Hirvonen

Mikko Hirvonen has a strong record on Rally Australia, claiming his first world championship victory in the country in 2006 and triumphing again when the WRC returned to Australia in 2009. He spoke to Wrc.com ahead of this year’s event.

How important is this rally for you?

“Thinking of the championship winning here would be very important, but more important for me would be to get a really good result and, after a long time, to be able to fight for the win. That’s going to be our aim.”

Do you believe you still have a chance for the championship?

“It’s going to be tough - maybe we need some help from [Sebastien] Loeb if something is going to happen to him then we can get right up there. There is four rallies to go and anything can happen but I’m not really thinking like that. I would just like to have a nice finish to the season and get good results and hopefully we can do that. That will help us in the fight as well.”

Rally Australia has been good to you in the past - you scored your first WRC win here in 2006. Do you still look back to that time?

“I remember the whole race pretty well and for sure it brings some good memories. It’s not any help for this year but it’s good to have that.”

What was the best memory from 2006?

“The best thing was Petter [Solberg] tried to catch me all the time and Prodrive had their plan but they were not able to do it. It was really nice to show them they were not able to catch me and I could take my first win. It felt really good.”

Did it remove some pressure from your shoulders taking your first win?

“Maybe not back then. I always stayed very realistic and Sebastien [Loeb] and Marcus [Gronholm] were not in the rally anymore. In Norway the next year it felt even better because they were in the race as well but it was nice to open the sequence and get my first victory.”

How much satisfaction did you take from winning the last Rally Australia in 2009?

“It was really good for us at that point because of the championship. It was a close fight all the way to the end, we were all very close.”

What do you think about the new route for this rally?

“It’s very good, especially Friday and Saturday. It’s very similar to New Zealand with some fantastic scenery and very nice and good rhythm on the stages. There are some very slow sections but very fast sections as well. It has everything and looks really good.”

Sebastien Loeb says it could be dangerous between the trees. Do you agree?

“Some places but all the rallies there is trees and rocks like in Finland. Then in Monte Carlo we have big drops so in all rallies we have something that is a bit dangerous. Okay there are some places where you could put hay bales around the tree but that is something we have to think about. Hopefully I can avoid all the trees.”

Based on your knowledge from the recce how important will road clearing be?

“Especially if it stays dry it will be very difficult to be the first car on the road. There could be some tactics and they could be important on Friday evening.”

Have you done a gravel test for this rally?

“After Finland we haven’t done anything but I was happy with the pace in Finland. I hope it works here as well.”