Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen led home the first Ford 1-2-3 finish since 1979 by beating Marcus Grönholm and Henning Solberg in the second round of the World Rally Championship.
Hirvonen dominated the Rally of Norway from start to finish – taking his second victory of his WRC career. His maiden victory came in Australia last year, when Sébastien Loeb was absent with a broken arm and Grönholm crashed on the first day, but this time the Finn had to battle against the former champions.
“It’s been a fantastic rally,” said Hirvonen. “I rate this higher than Australia, because we were leading from stage one and we were really fighting with Marcus and Sébastien.”
Grönholm now leads the world championship with his second place finish in the Ford Focus. As for Sébastien Loeb, the Frenchman finished in a disappointing 14th position, after making some mistakes in the event.
Finishing in third was Henning Solberg, who managed to hold off his younger brother Petter.