Mikko Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen clinched victory in the Rally of Sardinia at the weekend. The Finnish duo also managed to bring the Citroen World Rally Team another 1-2 finish in the driver’s championship, with Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena having secured the title during the last round of WRC in France.
After Loeb crashed out on Friday’s opening leg, the win was Hirvonen’s for the taking after consistently finishing the event in second place for the past few years. It was also Hirvonen’s first win as a Citroen driver after taking up his post with the French outfit at the beginning of this season.
“It feels really, really good. This was the goal we had before the rally and finally everything worked well,” Hirvonen said.
Younger WRC pilots and M-Sport teammates Evgeny Novikov and Ott Tanak wrapped up the final podium spots – with Novikov matching his previous best and Tanak on the podium for the first time.
I hope that this second podium of the year (after Portugal) will help me to challenge next season,” 22-year old Novikov said.
The WRC season finale happens from 8-11 November 2012.