Hirvonen wins in Sweden for ZF Sachs partner Ford
Mikko Hirvonen made a perfect start to the 2010 World Rally Championship season: The Finn, whose Ford Focus RS WRC is equipped with a ZF Sachs Race Engineering clutch, won the opening event in Sweden in convincing manner. Last year痴 World Championship runner-up took the overall lead on the fifth of a total of 21 icy stages and held it all the way to the finish.
There was double reason to celebrate within the Ford factory team: Hirvonen痴 team mate and fellow countryman Jari-Matti Latvala also mounted the podium in Sweden: Third place for the 24-year old. Latvala and Hirvonen assumed the lead together for Ford in the Manufacturers� World Championship. With Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson two more Ford drivers finished in the points. Both the Norwegian痴 and the Briton痴 Focus RS WRC are equipped with clutches supplied by ZF Sachs Race Engineering.
Results Sweden Rally (S), 1st round of the World Rally Championship, 12 Feb�14 Feb 2010:
1. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen, Ford, 3h 09m 30.4s, ZF Sachs
2. S. Loeb/ D. Elena, Citro�, + 42.3s
3. J. Latvala/M. Anttila, Ford, + 1m 15.4s, ZF Sachs
4. D. Sordo/M. Marti, Citro�, + 2m 41.6s
5. S. Ogier/J. Ingrassia, Citro�, + 4m 15.3s
6. H. Solberg/I. Minor-Petrasko, Ford, + 5m 23.4s, ZF Sachs
7. M. Wilson/S. Martin, Ford, + 7m 53.9s, ZF Sachs
8. M. Ostberg/J. Andersson, Subaru, + 9m 22.2s
9. P. Solberg/P. Mills, Citro�, + 10m 17.5s
10. P-G. Andersson/A. Frederiksson, Skoda, + 12m 08.9s
Drivers� championship:
1. M. Hirvonen, 25 points; 2. S. Loeb, 18; 3. J. Latvala, 15; 4. D. Sordo, 12; 5. S. Ogier, 10; 6. H. Solberg, 8; 7. M. Wilson, 6; 8. M. Ostberg, 4; 9. P. Solberg, 2; 10. P-G. Andersson, 1.
Manufacturers� championship:
1. Ford, 40 points; 2. Citro�, 30; 3. Stobart-Ford and Citro� Junior Team, 14 each.