Born around sixty or so miles from Jyväskylä, Mikko Hirvonen is a pure product of the Finnish racing programme that has taken many a driver as far as the World Rally Championship.

Mikko’s love of rallying is part of his DNA. As a youngster, he first got his hands of the steering wheel of a car while sat on his dad’s knees and then practised racing on the frozen lakes of his home land. After securing his driving licence, he began racing competitively with… his cousin – a family affair. In a few short years, he amassed a lot of experience by driving a wide range of different cars in an increasingly international programme.

After winning the Finnish championship in the Group A two-wheel drive category in 2002, he became works driver at Ford and then Subaru. After a transitional season in 2005, he returned to the Ford team in 2006.

Initially partnered with Marcus Grönholm, he finished third in the World Championship on two occasions, collecting his first WRC win at the 2006 Rally Australia.

From 2008 onwards, Mikko Hirvonen became Sébastien Loeb’s main rival in the fight for the world title. He finished as runnerup three times, losing out at the final round in both 2009 and 2011.

In 2012, he opted to join the Citroën Total World Rally Team and finished – again – second in the World Championship behind Sébastien Loeb, winning the Italian round in the process.

WRC STATISTICS

YearChampionshipCarStartsWinsPod.Pos.
2012Drivers WRCCitroën DS3 WRC131102
2011Drivers WRCFord Fiesta RS WRC13282
2010Drivers WRCFord Focus RS WRC13126
2009Drivers WRCFord Focus RS WRC124112
2008Drivers WRCFord Focus RS WRC153112
2007Drivers WRCFord Focus RS WRC162103
2006Drivers WRCFord Focus RS WRC16183
2005Drivers WRCFord Focus RS WRC5110
2005Drivers WRCSkoda Fabia WRC1
2004Drivers WRCSubaru Impreza WRC167
2003Drivers WRCFord Focus RS WRC1416
2002Drivers WRCRenault Clio S16002
2002Drivers WRCSubaru Impreza Gr. A1