Mikko Hirvonen placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2006 and 2007.
27 Facts About Mikko Hirvonen
2.
Mikko Hirvonen won the under 2000 cc Group A Finnish Rally Championship in 2002.
3.
Mikko Hirvonen scored points in ten rallies, but his best event result was only fourth, at the Rally Argentina and at the season-ending Rally Australia.
4.
Mikko Hirvonen then campaigned a two-year-old Ford Focus RS WRC 03 and led one rally during the course of the year, and scored a career-best third-place finish at the Rally Catalunya as a privateer.
5.
Mikko Hirvonen drove the new Ford Focus RS WRC 06 partnered with Marcus Gronholm.
6.
Mikko Hirvonen took his first World Rally Championship win at the Rally Australia, and placed second at the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, the Rally of Turkey and the Rally New Zealand.
7.
Mikko Hirvonen took his second WRC victory in Norway and later won the 2007 Rally Japan and the season-ending 2007 Wales Rally GB.
8.
Mikko Hirvonen finished third in the driver's championship, 17 points behind Sebastien Loeb.
9.
On 17 December, Mikko Hirvonen was officially named as the number one BP-Ford Abu Dhabi factory driver for the 2008 season, after Marcus Gronholm's retirement.
10.
Mikko Hirvonen started the season with a second place at the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally, which was his and the BP-Ford Team's target.
11.
Mikko Hirvonen took his second victory of the season in Turkey.
12.
In New Zealand, Mikko Hirvonen was leading when he had a puncture and a spin on the penultimate stage, dropping him to third behind the Citroen drivers Loeb and Sordo.
13.
Mikko Hirvonen then dropped eight points behind Loeb in the drivers' championship with only four more rallies to go.
14.
That changed when Mikko Hirvonen rolled his car onto its roof in stage five of the season-ending Wales Rally GB.
15.
Mikko Hirvonen was bumped down to 44th as a result, but managed to recover to eighth place by the end of the rally.
16.
Mikko Hirvonen started the 2009 season with a third place behind the Citroen duo at the Rally Ireland.
17.
Mikko Hirvonen went to finish second to Loeb in the following two rallies in Cyprus and Portugal.
18.
In Portugal, Mikko Hirvonen tied the record for the longest points finish streak in the series with his former teammate Marcus Gronholm.
19.
Mikko Hirvonen's retirement saw Loeb take a 20-point lead over him in the drivers' standings.
20.
At the following Rally Poland, Loeb crashed again, although recovered to seventh, with Mikko Hirvonen winning his second consecutive rally he moved to the top of the standings.
21.
In Finland, Mikko Hirvonen took the lead on the first proper stage and continued pulling away from Loeb to take his debut win in his home event.
22.
Mikko Hirvonen led the 2009 Championship by a point from Sebastien Loeb, and needed a win to clinch the title, but a hard landing from a jump on the penultimate stage caused the bonnet hinge to fail, as time ticked by to get rid of the bonnet cover, the Championship was handed to Loeb.
23.
In 2010, Mikko Hirvonen continued his partnership with Ford for the last time with the Ford Focus RS WRC before switching to the new 1.6 Ecoboost Ford Fiesta RS WRC in 2011.
24.
In 2012, Mikko Hirvonen changed his seat to a Citroen DS3 WRC to partner Sebastien Loeb in the Citroen Total World Rally Team.
25.
Mikko Hirvonen ended the season with one of his biggest accidents ever in Wales.
26.
On 13 December 2013, it was confirmed Mikko Hirvonen would re-join M-Sport, formerly Ford for the 2014 season.
27.
In 2015, Mikko Hirvonen began to compete in rally raid for X-Raid with a Mini Countryman, finishing third at the Baja Aragon with co-driver Michel Perin.