Mikko Hirvonen’s preparations for his gravel debut in a Citroen DS3 WRC on next month’s Rally Guanajuato Mexico were interrupted briefly by snow.
The Finn was testing for two days in Spain this week, but his early morning running was completed with snow on the ground and temperatures hovering around freezing point. Despite the icy blast just north of Barcelona, 14-time world rally winner Hirvonen was delighted with his time in his Citroen.
“I thought we’d done all that snow with Monte Carlo and Sweden testing,” smiled Hirvonen. “We were in the mountains about 90 kilometres north-west of Barcelona, it was a really beautiful area - but first thing in the morning it was minus four and like a gravel Monte!
“Once the sun came up the temperatures improved quite a bit - but it wasn’t Mexico!”
Despite the conditions, Hirvonen said he learned a lot about the Citroen, which will stand him in good stead for round three of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.
“This is only the second time I’ve driven the car on gravel,” he said, “and it feels really good. We’ve pretty much spent two days putting miles on the car and fine-tuning it, just really small things to make us more comfortable. The team worked hard and we did two 12-hour days on the test.”