Go to content Go to navigation Go to recent PR reports Go to search

This Week in Ford Racing

Monday October 19, 2009

 

Mikko Hirvonen, driver of the World Rally BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS, leads the driver standings by just one point. With only Wales Rally GB left in the season, Hirvonen looks to end 2009 with a championship title. 

MIKKO HIRVONEN – BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS– How does it feel to be leading the championship with only one round to go? “It feels great, but I have led the championship before.  I've just not led it with only one event to go.  I'm trying not to think about it until the rally is over in Cardiff.  Hopefully, the team will be having a big party, though.” 

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE UNDER PRESSURE? “Not at the moment, no.  It's just really exciting.  I actually have a chance to win and I'm keeping my feet firmly on the ground.  It will be a hard fight. I'm not underestimating the job I need to do in Wales, but I have no expectations at all and that way I've taken the pressure away, I've put it on the side.  We've had a good feeling for the last six events and I've proved things to myself that I needed to do.  That's also taken some of the pressure away.” 

At what point this year did you feel you could challenge Loeb and take the title? “I started the season thinking I could do it.  Then when we finished in Argentina and we scored no points, I virtually gave up.  It was only after we won in Greece that I started to hope again. In Poland, after Loeb went off and we moved into the championship lead, I knew we were back in the fight.  So Poland was the big turning point in my mind.  I always knew it would be difficult – he's a five-time champion.”  

Has anything changed in your mind since last year? “Nothing has changed.  I knew I could challenge him if we had perfect rallies and more experience and confidence behind us.  We've driven some really good rallies this season.  Even when he was winning events, we were right behind him in second place.  I've challenged him on so many stages and I knew I could do it.” 

What have you been doing since Spain two weeks ago? “Immediately after the rally I did a passenger ride event for BP and Castrol in Spain.  I've been spending some time with my family and done quite a few media interviews and appearances. We tested in Cambria two days earlier in the week to find a good set-up for Rally GB, and I'm feeling comfortable with the car.  We're driving in the Cambrian Rally as a course car this weekend.  The roads are similar to those we're going to experience in Rally GB, so it will be a good experience after the asphalt in Spain.  I won the Cambrian back in 2002, so I'm looking forward to going back there.” 

If you had a choice of any event on which to challenge Loeb, what would it be? “It would have to be Finland.  At your home event you have an added confidence and knowledge of the roads.  Rally GB would definitely be second on the list, though.  It's a fantastic event and I love driving there.  The roads really suit me.  They are fast and flowing and at this time of year they won't be covered in ice or snow, so they should be perfect.” 

Are you concerned at all about starting Rally GB first on the road? “No, not at all.  It's not the sort of rally where there is a massive difference between running first, second or third on the road.  If it's really muddy then first on the road is the best place to be, and if it's dry and dusty, then first is also best.  So, I'm happy with starting first.” 

Your browser may not support display of this image.  

On Sunday, Brandon Davis, driver of the No. 10 Ford Mustang GT, captured his first SCCA Speed World Challenge GT Championship. Davis talks about what the win means to him, and his plans for the off-season. 

BRANDON DAVIS – No. 10 Ford Mustang GT – HOW DID IT FEEL TO TAKE HOME THE CHAMPIONSHIP ON SUNDAY? “It’s an absolutely amazing feeling. This was my first professional championship win. The way that we kind of put the team together, and the course of the season and how everything went, made it that much more special. I was able to race with my dad, drive a Mustang, which I’ve also loved, and finish out the year in California with Boris Said, as well as my father, on the track, I don’t think you could really ask for anything better.” 

YOU STARTED FIRST ON SUNDAY EVEN THOUGH BORIS WON THE POLE. DID HIS POLE WIN COME INTO PLAY AS PART OF YOUR STRATEGY? “ It wasn’t so much a strategy; I had some problems on Saturday. The way that the tires work in that series, the first lap is the best lap, and if you make a mistake on your first lap, you can try as hard as you want to for the rest of the session, but you’re not going to go any faster. I actually made a mistake on my first lap and wasn’t able to get the time I wanted, and Boris actually waited until a little bit later in the session and as he was going out, I was fourth and Tony Rivera, who was second in the championship, was on pole. You get 15 points for sitting on the pole and by Boris bumping him, he took away five points, which helped a lot. There’s a rule in the series where we do a coin toss to decide the starting position for the top five from qualifying. Boris was able to somehow lose the coin toss, and since I started fifth on the grid I was able to start from the pole, which allowed me to go around and lead for the first couple laps, that helped me get another five points. It also allowed Boris to kind of cover my back as the race went on, which helped a lot and made it a lot easier to drive.” 

WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO IN BETWEEN NOW AND THE START OF NEXT SEASON? “If we continue to go down the World Challenge path and do more road racing, there are a couple different times when things start. There’s the 24 hours at Daytona, which starts around mid-February, so we will want to have some things in line before that if we decide to go down that road. For the SPEED World Challenge Series, the season starts in March, so definitely a lot of time off, a lot of time to think about it. Basically, the way I look at it, I’ll drive anything as long as there is no conflict. Hopefully, we’ll have some things going and I’ll be able to do multiple series next year, if that’s possible and see how that works out.” 

Your browser may not support display of this image.  

In just one week, Brent Hajek and Hajek Motorsports set five new records for E-85 powered vehicles, including a land speed record in a 2010 Mustang at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats. Hajek Motorsports also took an E-85 Mustang to Talladega earlier this year where Bill Elliott set a closed course speed record for an E-85 powered car.  

BRENT HAJEK – Owner, Hajek Motorsports – HOW HAS THE PAST WEEK BEEN FOR HAJEK MOTORSPORTS? “This has been a great week for Hajek Motorsports and Ford Mustang racing. We have got five records in seven days with Mustangs. I was on the way to Bonneville and the guys called from Kearney, Nebraska, at an NHRA event up there. They went up, and set both ends of the NHRA A Stock Automatic Record – 9.73 (seconds) at 138.42 (mph) in the quartermile, and they also set up the A Stock eighth mile, both ET and mile-an-hour record. The other Cobra Jet went the quickest and fastest time in the history of Stock Eliminator –  it went a 9.44 at a 142.84. In Bonneville, qualifying ended at noon Sunday. We ran the course last and we broke the record, but we had to turn right back around immediately and back it up and run within one percent. On the back-up run, our combined average times were 255.76 for a mile an hour, and our exit speed on that last run was 258.l4 miles an hour. We were the last ones down the track, the last car to get to run at Bonneville this year.” 

YOU RAN A 252 THERE LAST YEAR BUT YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO GET THAT VALIDATED. ARE YOU HAPPY THAT YOU CAN FINALLY GET THAT ACCOMPLISHED? “I’m so happy.  We came back 45 minutes later to back that record up and get it validated. That was way cool.” 

YOU HOLD THE LANDSPEED RECORD FOR AN E-85 VEHICLE? IS THAT CORRECT? “There’s no other faster E-85 production vehicle out there. The class they put us in was fuel-altered. The cars we were competing with were nitro-methane. We were running the E-85.” 

WHEN DID YOU BEGIN WORKING ON THIS BONNEVILLE PROGRAM? “We really didn’t get the 2010 Mustang body and start working on the thing in earnest until June. You can go to the website that is set up that shows step by step and the date and times. From the time that thing was just a bare body shell of a 2010 Mustang to the land speed record holder the first time out was only 100 and some days. That’s pretty cool.”  

AS SOON AS YOU WERE DONE ATTEMPTING THE E-85 TRACK RECORD WITH BILL ELLIOTT, YOU STARTED WORKING ON THIS? “We worked with the people at Ford Plastics to build our soy bean fenders and all that stuff. We thought that would be cool. That took a little more time to get the design and aero and wind tunnel information and get it to the body panels made out of soy with the proper aero dynamic characteristics, but they got it done.” 

AFTER YOU RAN THE INITIAL 255, YOU ONLY HAD 45 MINUTES TO RUN THE VALIDATION? “Yes, we had to immediately come back because we were the last car to qualify and the last one to be able to back-up the record. Everyone else failed at their attempt, so we had to turn right back around and go immediately back to the starting line and run it again, and that thing just kept getting better every run.” 

WAS THAT THE LONGEST 45 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE? “Yes, it was. We got calls back from all the different Ford Racing teams. Vaughn Gittin, Jr., called and was joking with me. You know that 2010 Mustang commercial where it shows different things you can do in your 2010 Mustang? Well, one of them says go out and destroy a land speed record, and we’ve done that. Then one of them says go out and drift with Japan’s best, and that’s Vaughn’s deal, so I said, ‘We’re going to get to be in a commercial with you now, Vaughn.’” 

YOU STARTED THE YEAR IN POMONA WINNING THE SEASON OPENING WINTERNATIONALS IN THE COBRA JET’S DEBUT.. “Yes, and from there we went over to Phoenix and turned around and ran the fastest dialed-in run in the history of Stock Eliminator, and then we went to Dallas and ran the first 140 mile-an-hour pass in the history of Stock Eliminator. We were the number one qualifier in Denver, and in Indianapolis at U.S. Nationals, we beat the Dodge Challenger in the first Challenger versus Cobra Jet match ever. We were number one and two in Kearney, Nebraska. There were about six different places where our cars had low ET, top speed and were number one qualifier; some of them, we were just talking about. Some of the different magazine writers told us that the ’08 Cobra Jet launch was arguably the best, most successful drag product launch in the history of Motown, with everything that has been accomplished by these cars in such a short period of time. We’re pretty proud of that, working with Ford and making that happen.” 

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO FOR 2010? ANY NEW CHALLENGES?  “We’ve got plenty of challenges, we’ve got some pretty cool stuff lined up. We’re looking at some more ‘green’ things to do. As we’re doing more with soy, and more and more people are learning about what we do with our bio connections, we’re learning more about how we can actually apply all of that to racing, and how much that can actually go into these production vehicles. We’re trying to get a little bit greener and a little bit meaner.” 

LOOKING FOR FREE NASCAR NEWS AND COMMENTARY SENT RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX?
Well, you’ve come to the right place. The Frontstretch Newsletter is back in action for 2010, giving you more of the daily news, commentary, and NASCAR features from your favorite writers you know and love. Don’t waste another minute – click here to sign up and get all the information you need. We’re here to make sure you start 2010 off on the right foot … so make sure you jump on for the ride!

This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Beth Lunkenheimer.

 

©2000 - 2008 Beth Lunkenheimer and Frontstetch.com. Thanks for visiting the Frontstretch!