(bke) Mikko Hirvonen came in fourth during the last but one race of the FIA World Rally Championship in Ireland in 2007. He contributed that Ford could early defend its title for the Manufacturers' World Rally Championship
"Today we have added another memorable chapter to Ford’s great Motorsport history ", said John Fleming, President and CEO Ford Europe, afterwards.
The team led the championship, which spans five continents on surfaces as snow, asphalt and gravel, since the third round in Norway in February – meanwhile with a 21 point lead.
The Ireland Rallye, however, was not that successful for Marcus Grönholm. He dropped out the race just the first day after having had a collision with a stone wall. As a result Sébastian Loeb (Citroen) could bring in the victory at the green island followed by Dani Sordo (Citroen) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford).
Sébastian Loeb is now leading with 110 points. It will come to a decision not before the last race of the season from November 30 until December 12 in Wales who will win the day for the drivers' championship title: Marcus Grönholm (104 points) should come in at least seven positions before his competitor at the gravel grounds around Cardiff in order to win the day. The Fin already announced that he will determine his active rallye career after this race.
