Hirvonen repeats Rally of Sweden win

Mikko Hirvonen was the winner of the first rally of the new era in the WRC. The Swede won with a small 6 second advantage over his compatriot Mads Ostberg, as the Fords dominated the podium. This win was the first since he won the same Rally in the beginning of last year’s season.

Besides being remembered for the debut of the new era in WRC, the 2011 edition of the Rally of Sweden will also be recalled for the close competition as there were five drivers within 15 seconds at the start of the final day. Hirvonen, Ostberg, Solberg, Latvala and Ogier were fighting for the first win of the season, with surprising Ostberg still with a chance of winning his first WRC rally ever.

Ostberg was a surprise leader after day one, as the former Subaru privateer opened up a half-minute lead over his competitors in his Stobart Ford. The Swede took the benefits of being the tenth driver on the road.

The five drivers got closer on Saturday as stage conditions slowed down those we started ahead of the pack. The starting order wasn’t that much of problem on Sunday morning, as Hirvonen, who had overtaken Ostberg during leg two, managed to extend his lead.

But on the final run of the afternoon the loose snow slowed down Hirvonen and his advantage was cut to 4.9 seconds as they entered the deciding Gustavsfors stage.

Hirvonen still had enough time to secure his first win since the same event a year ago on the 4.16km course to hold off Ostberg, who captured his first WRC podium.

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

Although he didn’t capture his first win, second place was still amazing for Ostberg.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "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."

The podium was completed by Jari-Matti Latvala who had a disappointing morning but flew through the afternoon stages to move back into third place ahead of Ogier.

Seven-time World champion Sebastien Loeb was never a contender in Sweden as running first in the opening leg of the rally became a big handicap for the French. With two punctures and a loss of power from a snow-blocked intake making him loose further time, Loeb had to settle for sixth place.