Hirvonen reveals Monte Carlo win fear

Monte Carlo Rally winner Mikko Hirvonen has revealed he only believed he would definitely win the Intercontinental Rally Challenge season opener last month when rival Sébastien Ogier retired with two stages remaining.

Ogier, driving a Peugeot 207 S2000, had been closing on Hirvonen’s M-Sport Ford Fiesta when he stopped with alternator failure heading to the final loop of stages. Although Finn Hirvonen insists he never felt under any pressure from Ogier, he described the French driver’s retirement as a big relief.

“I only thought I could definitely win when I heard that Ogier had retired,” said Hirvonen. “I really didn’t think about it before then because I knew that he was going to push like hell on the last two stages. Even when I did the penultimate stage over the Col du Turini I didn’t know what was going on, so I didn’t know whether to go flat-out or whether he was starting behind me.”