Finn
Mikko Hirvonen, driving a Ford Focus, won the Rally Poland
race on Sunday, crossing the line 1min 10sec clear of
Spaniard Dani Sordo's Citroen C4 to go top of the world
championship standings.
Thousands of fans turned out in warm and sunny weather
to cheer Hirvonen to the finish as he adroitly negotiated
the 2.5km final Super Special.
Stobart driver Henning Solberg
was third in another Ford Focus, 2min 5sec off the pace
at a new race venue in Mikolajki.
"Despite the mistake by Jari-Matti, I'm still at the
top of the drivers' standings, by one point, and it's
the first time in my career that I've won two rallies
in a row, so it feels fantastic," said Hirvonen, who
won the Acropolis Rally of Greece earlier in June.
Hirvonen's
ninth career win propelled him above previous championship
leader Sebastien Loeb of France, who is chasing a sixth
straight overall title this season. "Now
I want to win three in a row by winning my rally, in
Finland," Hirvonen continued. "After
everything that happened at the beginning of the season
(when Loeb won the first five rallies), I never thought
that I'd get to Finland at the top of the championship."
Hirvonen's fellow Ford Focus driven by Finn Jari-Matti
Latvala, who stood second overnight, earlier crashed
out after he struck a barrel on a right-hand corner
and drove into a metal barrier, damaging his front
suspension.
Citroën's Loeb gave himself too much to do as he embarked
upon the five specials of the closing day over 19 minutes
off the lead in 13th place, having smashed his car
into a tree stump early on Friday.
Hirvonen, 28, and
Loeb, who finished in seventh spot, will now battle
to the wire in a thrilling end to the campaign with
just four races remaining.
The next instalment is in Hirvonen's homeland at the
end of next month.