Ford World Rally Team driver Mikko Hirvonen fulfilled a childhood dream by winning Rally Finland in front of his home town fans in Jyvaskyla on Sunday.

Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen won the legendary rally by 25.1sec in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to extend their lead in the FIA World Rally Championship to three points with three rounds remaining.
It was Hirvonen's third straight rally win following Poland and Greece, and with the addition of Jari-Matti Latvala's Sardinian success, it was the Ford team's fourth consecutive victory of the 2009 season.

Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila joined their fellow Finns on the podium by claiming third place in their Focus RS WRC.
Latvala fought off a severe stomach upset on Saturday to claim a maiden podium on his home rally.
Rally Finland, round nine in the 12-event championship, is the fastest rally in the series. Famous for its awesome roller-coaster jumps, Latvala topped the speed chart by winning the penultimate special stage at a remarkable average of 131.56kph.
The results enabled Ford to close the gap on the leaders in the manufacturers' world title fight to 14 points, and ended a perfect week in which Ford announced it would extend its commitment to the World Rally Championship for a further two years into 2010 and 2011.

Few of the 23 gravel speed tests covering 345.15km overall fell below a 120kph average and even when heavy rain fell on Saturday morning during the second leg, speeds remained high as the rock-hard road surface softened to provide even better grip.

Hirvonen, who celebrated his 29th birthday during the first leg on Friday, added his name to the illustrious list of drivers who have mastered the sport's truest test of precision driving and bravery by leading for all but the first couple of kilometres. He steadily pulled away from closest rival Sebastien Loeb and when the Frenchman damaged a tyre Saturday afternoon, Hirvonen was able to measure his pace, reduce the risks and take an emotional victory in front of his family and friends.
"I've watched this rally since I was a kid and now I have won here myself and joined so many of the sport's legends who have won here," said an overjoyed Hirvonen. "It's such a fantastic sensation to win my home rally that I can't put my feelings into words. It has been such a great weekend for the team that there will be big celebrations tonight."

Hirvonen took the lead from the second stage and his grip tightened Saturday when Loeb, last year's winner here, lost 13 seconds after suffering a damaged wheel when he hit a pothole.
Loeb, who held a 20-point lead in the title race just four rounds ago, was glad to return to the podium after crashing on both of the last two rallies.
"It was a good battle with Mikko, but he was really fast here," said Citroen-driver Loeb. "It was looking good for Mikko to begin with but after my puncture it was over. I lost too much time and it was not possible to come back - the gap was too much. But okay, we are here, we lost two points in the championship - but it's better than losing ten like we did on the last couple of events! We're still in the running which is what counts. Everything is still to play for. It will be an interesting end to the championship I think."

Jari-Matti Latvala finished third in a Ford Focus 49.9 seconds behind the winner and was also relieved to make the podium after his last stage disaster on the previous round in Poland. "I've never had to fight so hard for third place!" said Latvala. "I had extremely big pressure on Friday because of what happened in Poland, then I was really, really sick on Friday and had to fight Dani (Sordo) - who was driving his best ever Rally Finland."