Can Hirvonen do
the Finland
double?

Ford team leader Mikko Hirvonen will defend his Rally Finland title next week on a weekend which is guaranteed to give him at least one reason to celebrate.

Hirvonen, who comes from host town Jyvaskyla, fulfilled a lifetime ambition by winning last year in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. This year the Finn celebrates his 30th birthday on the final day next Saturday and is hoping for a double celebration.

This will be Hirvonen's ninth start in his home event and he has also finished second twice. He completed two days of testing last week, covering about 500km.

"There were lots of good things to come from the test so I'm excited about the rally,” he said. “I'm looking forward to defending last year's victory because I want to keep the title in Finland. Defending the title on your home rally definitely brings more excitement in the run-up to the event."

And with this year’s 60th anniversary rally featuring three days of competition squeezed into just two, Hirvonen believes the excitement will remain right until the final stage. “The two-day format will be interesting. Recently, Sunday's final leg has contained very few kilometres and the result was effectively decided by what happened in the previous two days. With just two legs this year, the battle could continue through to the final stage of the rally," he added.

Jari-Matti Latvala completes Ford's all-Finnish driver line-up and will make his eighth start in the rally. His best result was the third place he scored last season. "The excitement builds in Finland like no other round," he said. "I always have a few nerves before the start of a rally, but there are a few more before Rally Finland gets under way. The nerves really build on the road section to the opening stage, and then when I reach the finish of that first test I think to myself 'Wow! That was quick!' then everything starts to settle down.”

Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr will drive a third Focus RS WRC for the team. This will be Al Qassimi's fourth start in Finland, his best result coming last year when he finished ninth.