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11:35 GMT, Sunday, 27 April 2008 12:35 UK

Hirvonen claims victory in Jordan

Mikko Hirvonen

Finland's Mikko Hirvonen moved back to the top of the World Championship standings with his first win of the season at the Rally of Jordan.

The Ford Focus driver finished one minute 15 seconds ahead of Citroen's overnight leader Dani Sordo of Spain.

Australia's Chris Atkinson finished third in the Subaru Impreza.

World champion Sebastien Loeb's chances of winning the event were effectively ended after a head-on collision on the 11th stage on Saturday.

Frenchman Loeb started Sunday in 20th position but managed to finish the race in 10th place with the Citroen driver pushed into second in the overall standings.

It is the fifth victory for 27-year-old Hirvonen after wins in Australia in 2006, Norway, Japan and Britain in 2007. He now holds a five point lead over Loeb.

"I'm really happy to win and take the 10 points - it makes up for my result in Argentina," said Hirvonen.

"Sebastien (Loeb) is still a big threat though. He was very fast here, so we need to find some more speed for the next events."

Elsewhere, Norway's Henning Solberg was fourth, with Britain's Matthew Wilson finished fifth and Argentine Federico Villagra claimed sixth. Italian Gigi Galli took the final point in eighth place.

Scotland's Barry Clark impressed following his last-minute call-up to the Munchi's Ford team, finishing 13th overall.


Rally of Jordan final standings:
1. Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford Focus RS four hours two minutes 47.9 seconds
2. Dani Sordo (Spn) Citroen C4 one minute 15.7 seconds behind
3. Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru Impreza at 4:59.5
4. Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford Focus RS 7:35.8
5. Matthew Wilson (GB) Ford Focus RS 10:41.7
6. Federico Villagra (Arg) Ford Focus RS 11:22.2
7. Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford Focus RS 12:15.6
8. Gigi Galli (Ita) Ford Focus RS 12:24.4
9. Khaled Al Qassimi (UAE) Ford Focus RS 19:05.7
10. Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen C4 23:38.1

Stage winners: Loeb 9 (SS4, SS6, SS7, SS9, SS10, SS11, SS18, SS19, SS21), Sordo 4 (SS1, SS2, SS3, SS12), Hirvonen 4 (SS8, SS13, SS17, SS22), Galli 3 (SS14, SS15, SS16), Latvala 2 (SS5, SS20)



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Related to this story:

Crash ends Loeb's hopes in Jordan (26 Apr 08 |  Rallying )
Scot to make surprise WRC debut (24 Apr 08 |  Rallying )

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