“This sport needs a new champion,” the voice crackles over the radio. “I came close a few years ago. Others have too, like Gronholm in 2006 and 2007. But Loeb has always managed to take it home. Maybe – hopefully – not this year…”
I’m sat beside Mikko Hirvonen, the Ford World Rally team’s de facto number one driver for 2011, just about. The Finn’s assertion is delivered in a matter-of-fact, conversational tone that belies the tension and gravity behind it. In next weekend’s Rally of Great Britain the 2011 World Rally Championship will be claimed by either Sebastien Loeb or Hirvonen, a straight two-horse race between old and enduring rivals.
Hirvonen has been here before – several times. In 2009 he led Loeb by one point heading into Rally GB, the season finale, but came home just over a minute in arrears of the Frenchman to cede the title – Loeb’s sixth – by the same amount. He had come close the year before as well, but Loeb’s habit of winning remained unbroken on both occasions. It threatens to do so again this year, unless Hirvonen can pull out something special – something worthy of finally defeating one of rallying’s greatest drivers – in the Welsh forests.
Hirvonen has racked up the points all year long in his Fiesta © LAT
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For now though the prospect does not weigh on Hirvonen. He is in his element; strapped in to his Fiesta WRC and about to take on a well-trodden test route located near the team’s headquarters in north-west England. A furtive glance assures him I am ready, and with a squeal of rubber and a roar from the 1600cc turbocharged engine we head off between the trees.
“This year the cars are totally different,” he explains as we come to the first hurdle, a quick left-right-left. A dab of the brakes shifts the weight to the front and with an expert flick he gets the rear out, the car pivoting around its front axis. Back on the power, a quick flick of opposite lock and the slide holds perfectly before another dab of the brakes and the car is flicked around for the right hander.
“For sure this car is more demanding [in relation to the Focus WRC that preceded it],” the narrative continues. “You have to be more determined when you go into corners, and be aggressive. It doesn’t forgive your mistakes as easily though, because we don’t have the active central differential. That means we have to drive the car more. You have to work a bit harder and it’s a bit more difficult, but it’s really good fun.”
There’s no denying the veracity of the last statement. A long straight allows the Fiesta to stretch its lungs and break into full song, before the brakes slam on and the car seems to almost intuitively pivot around the apex of a tight hairpin. It is the most visceral passenger ride I have ever enjoyed, a glimpse into an extra dimension of control and skill that provides the illusion of near-infinite possibility.
For all his skill however – and it is something to behold – Hirvonen is still in many senses a man unfulfilled. Simply put, he has competed in the era of Loeb. The seven-time champion’s seemingly inexorable domination of the sport means Hirvonen, despite his talent, is yet to win a world rally crown.
Hirvonen just missed out on the 2009 title to Loeb at the final round © LAT
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If Loeb’s run of consecutive titles is to end, it is perhaps fitting that Hirvonen would be the man to do it, having come so close in the past. And yet the Finn is still in many ways an unlikely contender, and would therefore be an unlikely champion. Before Rally Australia he sat third in the championship, 36 points behind Loeb. He had also suffered the disappointment of losing at home to Loeb (despite winning 13 stages) and had the prospect of Rally France looming large.
The shape of the championship took a dramatic turn in Australia however when Loeb rolled out on day one, a few miles into the Brooklana stage. He was able to rejoin under SupeRally rules for Saturday and eventually finished 10th, but victory for Hirvonen put him within touching distance in the championship, just 15 points now separating the duo.
Worse was to befall Loeb on home soil, as his works Citroen stopped on only the third stage of the event, the Pays d’Ormont. The cause was eventually identified as an oil pump issue, but Loeb’s dismay was alleviated to some small degree by the performance of his team-mate Sebastien Ogier and that of Mini’s Dani Sordo, which meant Hirvonen could only finish fourth, moving him level with Loeb in the championship.
Loeb returned to winning ways on Rally Catalunya, although Hirvonen kept himself in touch by finishing second, with Ford opting to make the most of team orders to keep Hirvonen’s title push alive. Eight points now separate the duo heading into Rally GB.
What then can Hirvonen do? Loeb has been in this position before and not cracked. He has also won 58 stages to Hirvonen’s 33 this year, an indicator that – on his day at least – the Frenchman remains a daunting rival. I ask Hirvonen how he rates his own chances.
“I would retire right now if I didn’t believe it could be done,” comes the unflinching reply. There is no sense of hyperbole or theatre in the assertion, but a casual and easy acceptance that everyone must have their day. “I know it’s bloody difficult, but I will still keep trying as long as I can. Anyone can be beaten.
Loeb has been Hirvonen’s Nemesis throughout © LAT
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“I’m very realistic though. Loeb has been in this position before and managed to take it home. I can’t deny it, he’s very, very good, with a very strong team behind him. I can’t take anything away from him, but that just makes the prospect of beating him even greater.”
That is not to say, however, that Hirvonen would necessarily seal his position among the rally greats were he to triumph. Critics can point to the fact he has two wins to Loeb’s five, or eight podiums to Loeb’s nine, as evidence that the Frenchman is faster.
Perhaps such arguments are valid, but they are hardly new. In 1991 Juha Kankkunen took a then-record third WRC title, beating Carlos Sainz at the final round. Kankkunen, like his compatriot Hirvonen, had looked out of contention at one point, only for Sainz to roll in Australia and the championship to open up, with the Finn eventually triumphing at the season finale in Britain.
The parallels to 2011 are obvious, but also directly relevant. To simply be in with a title shot is all Hirvonen could ask for.
“We’re obviously in a very important moment now. It’s a big boost for everybody in the team to be in the title fight, especially as we have been so close before. Rally GB should be strong for us as well so for sure it’s possible,” he says.
“In sport, you simply never know.”
We have seen the terrible side of that truism in recent weeks with the deaths of Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli, the latter of whom recently spent time being tutored by Hirvonen in driving a WRC car. Whoever wins in Rally GB and the 2011 WRC, we can only hope sport’s unpredictability returns a great moment next weekend.