SS19: Hirvonen edging closer to glory in Sweden

Mikko Hirvonen has continued his dominance of the final day of Rally Sweden with the fastest time through the Rammen stage in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

Hirvonen completed the stage with minor cosmetic damage to the front-right of his Fiesta, which the Finn said had been caused by hitting large chunks of ice that have fallen onto the road. “There was a little more snow on that stage and it was maybe not the perfect drive from me,” said Hirvonen.

Mads Ostberg, who was second fastest on the stage, said he was happy with his performance, despite losing further ground to Hirvonen. “I’m pushing really hard and if I try to go faster I’ll do mistakes,” said the Norwegian. “Okay I do a couple of mistakes by braking a bit too early for a couple of corners but I am very happy because Mikko is one of the best drivers in the world and I was only 1.7s slower.”

Petter Solberg, currently in third overall, revealed at the end of the stage that he has been nursing a broken front-left damper for much of the morning: “We’re struggling a lot and it just goes completely wrong,” he said. “It’s not been a good morning.”

Sebastien Ogier is now 8.7s behind his fellow Citroen DS3 WRC driver Solberg following another impressive run on what is only his second start in Sweden.

Jari-Matti Latvala continues to struggle with his missing front bumper, which he lost hitting a snow bank on stage 17. He also reported a problem hearing his co-driver Miikka Anttila’s pace notes due to a suspected intercom problem towards the end of the stage.

Standings after SS19: