© DPPI
The Finn was driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on the Col de Mens, in the Massif du Dévoluy, earlier this week.
He might not have been the most anticipated driver behind the wheel of a factory car, but he did get to drive one recently. Mikko Hirvonen, retired from the WRC since the end of the 2014 season, participated in a test session earlier this week in France, specifically on the Col de Mens in the Dévoluy Massif, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. According to reports, the four-time World Rally Championship runner-up took the opportunity to test new Hankook tires, which will continue to equip the cars in the World Rally Championship next year. As we reported several weeks ago, Hankook is currently developing new tires for 2027, so it wouldn’t be surprising if work on them has already begun.
Why did Toyota call on Mikko Hirvonen?
However, the decision to call upon Mikko Hirvonen raises some questions. The Finn has been competing in historic rallies for several seasons and therefore, officially, hasn’t driven modern cars in competition for quite some time. Apart from a few participations in demonstration rallies, his last official appearance dates back to the 2019 Cyprus Rally , in the ERC , where he finished in 3rd place. This participation was in a Ford Fiesta R5 equipped with MRF tires, quite different, therefore, from the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driven earlier this week. This obviously doesn’t diminish Mikko Hirvonen’s experience: although he has put his career on hold for several years, the Finn has never truly hung up his racing equipment. After his career in the World Rally Championship, Hirvonen had embarked on rally-raid and in particular the Dakar with, as his best result, a 4th place obtained in his first participation, in 2016, on a Mini All4 Racing.
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