The latest recruit to the ultra-successful factory Citroen Racing team, backed by Red Bull, is Mikko Hirvonen.
It’s just as well that Mikko – who joins Citroen from Ford – is so laid back that he’s virtually horizontal, because he now has one of the toughest jobs in rallying: being Sebastien Loeb’s team mate.
Mikko, like many of his countrymen, doesn’t give much away, so we did a little bit of digging to uncover five things you didn’t know about Mikko Hirvonen – and one thing that you probably did...
1. Mikko loves restoring old cars
He may be among the world’s driving elite, but Mikko still loves getting his hands dirty. He’s got a collection of old cars in his garage in Finland, in various states of repair. One of his big weaknesses is American muscle cars. He’s also the owner of a good old fashioned hot rod.
2. His favourite post-rally food is a Big Mac
It’s refreshing to know that in a politically correct world where athletes are meant to enjoy green salad and yoga, some of them still maintain that you can’t beat a Big Mac and fries. Mikko is a huge devotee of the golden arches, and his regular post-rally treat is an enormous cheeseburger.
3. He’s trying to learn French by reading Asterix
Having been thrust into a deeply Gallic environment at Citroen, Mikko is now embarking on a study of French - although he's not going the usual route of studying crusty text books and learning endless verb conjugations. Instead, he’s decided that Asterix and Obelix should be his teachers and he’s busy ploughing through the collected back catalogue of the French cartoon classic.
4. His earliest childhood memory is driving on a frozen lake
Most of us have a favourite teddy bear or a trip to the zoo as our earliest childhood memories. Instead, Mikko remembers being sat on his father’s lap and encouraged to do doughnuts on a frozen lake in the family car. Which was worrying, as he wasn’t old enough to walk, let alone drive.
5. He was born in a place famous for its train museum
Mikko is no train spotter but he’s probably spent a lot of time in the company of them. He was born in Kannonkoski, a village of 1,570 inhabitants in the very centre of Finland best known for its train museum. It's now better known for being the birthplace of Mikko Hirvonen, of course.
And finally, a fact that maybe you did know...
Mikko set his first fastest stage times for Citroen on day three of the Monte Carlo Rally. By winning the second and third stages of the day, he consolidates his fourth place on the event – and is now less than 30 seconds behind Petter Solberg in third.
Mikko Hirvonen
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