Position 3 for Hirvonen at the World Rally in New Zealand
(bke) BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala led the World Rally Championship at the northern island of New Zealand for a long time. After a dramatic ending Mikko Hirvonen came in only on third position, however. First and second came in Sébastian Loeb and Dani Sordo of the Team Citroen.
The approx. 30 km long gravel ground along the Whaanga coast is one of the hugest challenges of the World Rally Championship. This coast became Jari-Matti Latvala's destiny: He swiped a bank and had to quit due to a damaged radiator. Mikko Hirvonen who dominated the race up to then also wrestled with problems just shortly before the end of the race: "First I noticed a flat tyre, one kilometre before the finish I started skidding and lost the front bumper."
The Ford Team will do its utmost during the remaining four races in order to gain the lead again. The next races will take place from October 2 until 5 in Spain.
