27 t/m 29 oktober 2006 - Rally Australië - klik hier voor de uitslag.

29.10.2006 - Hirvonen eerste keer op positie nr.1 geëindigd in de WRC Rally in Australië.

Mikko Hirvonen controlled his nerves in final leg of WRC Australia and cheered victory in highest podium position. Hirvonen, who is a Ford manufacturer rally driver was able to keep his rival, Subaru driver Petter Solberg behind of him by 37,1 seconds gap. The victory was first-ever in his WRC-career!

– Absolutely a fantastic weekend. I had a strong rally with Petter, told Hirvonen.

In season 2006 Hirvonen has driven a Ford Focus RS WRC'06 rally car as a team-mate for Marcus Grönholm. His goal has been securing best possible Manufacturers Championship points and therefore has not been able to rally for victories. He has been in podium six times this season.

In Australia Hirvonen took the lead in sixth stage. However he lost it and re-gained it back in ninth stage. After that stage he kept the position until the end of the rally. Petter Solberg tried hard to force Hirvonen to make a mistake, but was not able to challenge him.

– We carefully watched the split times Petter was showing, told Hirvonen.

Third in WRC Australia was Peugeot driver Manfred Stohl. He was nearly four minutes slower than Hirvonen.

Loeb for his third Championship title - Grönholm loses the game

For Grönholm WRC Australia was a big dissapointment. He crashed out in third stage, but was able to gain fifth position after good run. His placement was not able to keep him in battle for Drivers Championship against Sebastien Loeb. For maintaining the hopes, Grönholm should have been third.

– This was the best result for us after crash, told Grönholm for his fifth place.

Loeb secured the Championship even he was not rallying in WRC Australia. He is recovering from his broken shoulder. This is his third Championship title.

Verslag dag 2 - zaterdag 28-10-2006

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen continue to lead Rally Australia after
today's second leg. The BP-Ford World Rally Team pair returned to Perth this
evening having extended their opening day advantage to 32.3sec in their Ford
Focus RS World Rally Car. The Finns, chasing their maiden victory in the FIA
World Rally Championship, controlled their pace over the slippery gravel
tracks in Western Australia on a day when the team won eight of the nine
speed tests.
Team-mates Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen continued to fight back up
the order after yesterday morning's roll. The Finns, who began the day in
18th in their Focus RS, won five speed tests to climb to seventh. They
remain on course for a fifth place finish, their target after losing 11
minutes in yesterday's crash.

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "I'm closing on fifth, which is where we
calculated we could climb to after the accident. Tomorrow I will continue to
drive at my own speed and hope to get there. I don't think I can get any
higher so anything more would be a bonus. It's not so good to be so far
behind but it was my mistake and I must pay the penalty.

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "I've had a fantastic day with no problems
and I really enjoyed it. I've proved that I can drive fast enough to
challenge for victory. I've watched Petter Solberg's split times and driven
accordingly. It's nice to be able to defend a lead and I've proved something
to myself under pressure. I'm still not really thinking about actually
winning. I'm just trying to maintain a good speed and keep Petter behind us.

De eerste dag van deze verliep jammer genoeg niet zo goed voor Gronholm lees hier wat hij er zelf over te melden heeft en op foto 2 is te zien hoe Gronholm er uit zag na de 1e dag en na zijn pech... Collega Mikko Hirvonen houdt het spannend want hij staat na de eerste dag op plaats nr.1 met 26.2 seconden voorsprong op Petter Solberg.

Grönholm and Rautiainen led last night but their advantage was short-lived. Just 5km after the start of the day's opening 15.92km Murray North test, the Finns rolled their Focus RS.

"I hit a stone on the inside of a second gear right bend and the impact threw the car across the road and I rolled over the bank on the opposite side," said 38-year-old Grönholm. "The car rolled once, it was slow and soft, and ended on its roof. We pushed it back onto its wheels with the help of two or three people but then it became stuck on a tree stump so we had to jack it up to get out. We were stuck for more than 10 minutes. I made a stupid mistake."

Although the Focus RS did not suffer serious mechanical damage, the accident cracked the windscreen and broke both side windows. Although the crew taped them up as best they could, it was impossible to prevent choking brown dust from infiltrating the cockpit and they had to tackle another 70km of competition before returning to service in Perth for repairs.

"It was hell inside. We had so much dust in there that I couldn't breathe or see. My eyes hurt now and I also hurt my back trying to push the car over," added Grönholm. The team changed the transmission assembly and replaced battered body panels and the Finn then posted fastest time over three of the final four stages. Having dropped to 56th, following the crash, he recovered to 18th.

"I wasn't so fast this afternoon but the others were hindered by dust. I'm an old motocross rider so I'm used to it. I'm disappointed because we had the opportunity to lead comfortably and I think it will be a few years before I forget this. A top five finish is possible and that's my aim," he added.

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