Mikko Hirvonen has capped off a great trip down under by winning Rally Australia. The event was held over the weekend at Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast. Even better for Ford was the fact Jari-Matti Latvala competed strongly and came home in second place.
In fact, Latvala lead for much of the final day and team orders meant he handed the win to his teammate who is better placed in the drivers’ championship.
The Fiesta drivers were able to get through a tricky first day with only minor damage after slippery conditions ended the winning hopes of Citroën pair Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier. The two Sebastiens were able to get going again on day two, but time penalties put them well out of contention. In fact they finished the rally in tenth and eleventh.
That meant factory Fords clawed back some valuable points on the lead Citroëns in the manufacturers’ championship, bringing the gap back to 62 points.
Hirvonen was also able to displace Ogier from second in the title race and is now 15 points behind Loeb.
It was Hirvonen’s second race win for 2011 and follows his win at Rally Sweden to kick start his year.
With thanks to the Ford World Rally Team team you can watch a highlights clip below with coverage form all three days of competition.
2 replies on “Mikko Hirvonen wins Rally Australia”
Watched this on the weekend!!(on TV) – Wish i was there; was the the last one that was in Kyogile.
The crashes were great and that is what made it an amazing race.
Both Sebs crashed, which opened the way for Mikko.
Good to see the fords back to winning.
[…] at Melbourne’s Calder Park earlier this month. Made possible due to Ken’s visit for Rally Australia. There’s a video showing how the rally went for Ken as […]