Hirvonen wins the 72 hours of Loutraki

Symbol of endurance in the World Championship, the Acropolis Rally was won by Mikko Hirvonen, one of the only drivers to have passed between the stones of a particularly difficult event. Sébastien Ogier finished in second place, his best result in the discipline.

Published on 14/06/2009 à 14:16

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The duel between Citroën and Ford did not go beyond halfway. The exit of Jari-Matti Latvala in the last special stage of the first day had offered a very favorable position to the Citroën drivers, Dani Sordo and Sébastien Loeb, ranked behind Mikko Hirvonen at the start of the second stage.

But successive errors from Loeb (SS7) then Sordo (SS9) allowed Ford to win for the second time in a row. In Greece, Mikko Hirvonen succeeds Jari-Matti Latvala, winner in Sardinia.

Freed from the official Citroëns, Mikko Hirvonen changed pace from halfway through the race. The Finn went for his eighth victory in WRC avoiding problems.

Like him, Sébastien Ogier was able to master the elements (apart from an encounter with a cow on Sunday morning) to finish in second place, his best career result for his eighth start at the wheel of the Citroën C4 WRC.

The podium is completed by Jari-Matti Latvala. Eleventh on Friday evening, the Ford driver took advantage of a cascade of retirements to place himself in third place at the finish.

The withdrawals of Loeb, Sordo, the Solberg brothers and Wilson offer an unprecedented top 8 with Federico Villagra in fourth place ahead of Conrad Rautenbach, Khalid Al Qassimi and Mads Ostbert. The winner of the P-WRC round, guest Lambros Athanassoulas also scores a point.