Mikko Hirvonen has taken the victory on Rally de Portugal, the fourth round in the 2012 WRC.
Hirvonen began today's leg comfortably out front and in the end he took the victory by almost 2 minutes. It is his first win with Citroen and comes after a dramatic event, in which his team-mate, Sebastien Loeb went out on Thursday night and both Ford works drivers, Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg went off on Friday, when heavy rain, fog and mud made conditions extremely treacherous.
Mads Ostberg came through to take the runners-up spot, with Evgeny Novikov third despite a problem with his throttle cable on the final loop.
Solberg fought back from his day two woe to take fourth with Nasser Al-Attiyah and Martin Prokop completing the top six.
Dani Sordo meanwhile took the honours in the event ending Power Stage, ahead of Latvala and Ott Tanak.
1. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC 4hours 19mins 24.3secs M
2. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC +01mins 51.8secs
3. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +03mins 25.0secs M
4. Petter Solberg Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +03mins 47.4secs M
5. Nasser Al-Attiyah Qatar WRT Citroen DS3 WRC +07mins 57.6secs M
6. Martin Prokop Czech Ford National Team Fiesta RS WRC +08mins 01.0secs
7. Dennis Kuipers M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +08mins 39.1secs
8. Sebastien Ogier VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000 +09mins 00.8secs
9. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior WRT DS3 WRC +10mins 29.7secs M
10. Jari Ketomaa Ford Fiesta RS WRC +11mins 44.6secs
UPDATE: Mikko Hirvonen’s Citroën DS3 WRC/Michelin has been disqualified from the results of the 2012 Rally de Portugal for a technical infringement. The decision provides Mads Ostberg with the first WRC win of his young career.
UPDATE: Mikko Hirvonen’s Citroën DS3 WRC/Michelin has been disqualified from the results of the 2012 Rally de Portugal for a technical infringement. The decision provides Mads Ostberg with the first WRC win of his young career.
Nice race!
ReplyDeletePetter Solberg was my favourite!
ReplyDelete