Hirvonen wants to change tactics

The Finn did not shine in New Zealand, finishing just off the podium. Absent from the debates during the race, Hirvonen watched his teammate snatch victory by ahead of Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb who were fighting for victory before almost simultaneously making a fatal mistake to obtain first place. Latvala even scored Ford?s 75th victory, allowing the American manufacturer to have the title of manufacturer with the greatest number of victories in WRC in front of Lancia. “ New Zealand was disappointing for me " said Hirvonen. “ I need to find my speed again. I'm not thinking about the championship at the moment, I just want to go to Portugal and drive like I know how to do ».

Hirvonen knows he must make up for it quickly after a mixed start to the season. After winning the first round in Sweden, he only reached the podium once in Turkey. The Finnish driver thus finds himself in third position in the drivers' standings behind Latvala and Loeb, who is in the lead with 44 points ahead of Hirvonen and 36 points over Latvala. The battle for the championship is therefore more between the Ford drivers, Loeb being for the moment out of range of the attacks of his pursuers. However, there remains the battle in the manufacturers' championship where Citroën is only 5 points ahead of Ford.

The Finn must therefore improve his results to allow Ford to return to the race and above all to avoid being further outpaced by Latvala. Hirvonen therefore wants to adopt a less aggressive but more regular riding style, a strategy which worked for Latvala in New Zealand. “ I thought a lot about why I wasn't as fast as I hoped in New Zealand “, declared the Finn. “ I think I had to attack too much. Attacking too much made me make mistakes. So I'm going to be a little less aggressive and drive more carefully ».

Hirvonen finished 2nd behind Loeb last year in Portugal. If he wants to do better this weekend, he must apply his tactics while keeping a sufficiently high pace. Because if Latvala's technique worked in New Zealand, it is above all because the two drivers in front of him made an error at the very end of the race. And Loeb doesn?t do it often.