While admitting he grew up in a family that didn't have enough money, Hirvonen revealed his father risked all his money in order to build his son a future in rallying. Therefore, when asked who is his hero, the 28-year old Fin did not nominate any great Finnish rally driver, but his own father.
“I have to say my hero is actually my father. All the work and everything he has done for me to get me here from where we started. As a family, we didn’t have any money, we almost lost everything that we had when he was trying to get me going. But now it’s all turned out okay and, thankfully, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to repay that faith already,” said the Ford driver.
Apart from the immense gratitude to his father, Hirvonen admitted his driving style was later influenced by two of Finland's most spectacular drivers, Markku Alen and Tommi Makinen.
“As for drivers, I would have to say Markku Alen was the first one when I was young, he was always pushing hard and everybody admired his attacking style of driving and then when I was starting driving, [Tommi] Makinen was really at the height of his powers. Those two guys were influential for me as drivers.”
“But like I say, my hero really has to be my father for the way he put everything on the line to get me into this position,” added Hirvonen.
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