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Mikko Hirvonen Wins Rally Sweden

Mikko Hirvonen started off his 2010 World Rally Championship campaign in style this weekend, clinching the season opening Rally Sweden and heading a well-deserved 1-2-3 finish for Ford.

Despite Citroen’s encouraging start on Friday, it was Ford who dominated the action throughout the weekend, as Hirvonen and former privateer (now a Stobart Ford driver) Mads Ostberg finished within 6 second off each other in the overall classification.

Hirvonen started the Sunday leg first on the road, something the many considered a disadvantage for the overall win. However, some 3 consecutive stage wins in the morning put the Finn more than 13 seconds ahead of Ostberg, an advantage that helped him resist the Stobart driver’s surge in the end.

I was fairly nervous before the last stage. It's been a fantastic start by the team - a new car and victory straightaway,” said Hirvonen after the rally.

Ostberg, on the other hand, scored his first podium in the WRC, something that will certainly boost his confidence for the rounds to come.

It's unbelievable,” admitted an enthusiastic Ostberg. “Today has been difficult. We tried a little bit to catch Mikko but he was quite quick and I didn't dare to push as hard as I could. Second overall in Sweden, I'm absolutely happy with that.

Ford’s second works driver Jari-Matti Latvala made it three out of three for the British team, as the Finn climbed back into 3rd place on Sunday following a hesitant start. He won 2 out of 3 stages into the final loop and managed to end the rally ahead of Citroen’s Sebastien Ogier and privateer Petter Solberg (also running on a DS3 WRC).

Solberg, however, was unable to enjoy the final section of the rally, as he was caught speeding by the Swedish police. So instead of driving his car through the last special stage of the event, he handed his DS3 WRC to co-driver Chris Patterson, who took no chances and settle for a certain 5th place.

Reigning champion Sebastien Loeb had a troublesome weekend in Sweden, having struggled with the worst possible weather conditions on Friday, and a couple of punctures and an engine problem throughout the rest of the weekend. In the end, he had to settle for 6th place, minutes ahead of privateer Per-Gunnar Andersson.

Eights overall was Kimi Raikkonen, who managed to bring his Ice 1 Citroen entry in one piece at the finish line, while Stobart Ford’s Matthew Wilson and Abu Dhabi Ford’s Khalid Al Qassimi completed the Top 10.
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