IRC... Hirvonen gives Fiesta debut victory Mikko Hirvonen gave M-Sport's Ford Fiesta S2000 a debut victory in the Monte Carlo Rally, round one of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Leading from start to finish, Hirvonen beat fellow Finn Juho Hanninen - in a factory Skoda Fabia - by one minute and 51.4 seconds. Although Sebastien Ogier closed to within 38.3 seconds of Hirvonen with his seventh stage victory in ES12, the Peugeot 207 driver's bid for a second successive win in the Principality was cruelly ended when he retired on the road section heading to the penultimate stage. Ogier's retirement, the result of a broken alternator pulley shaft, elevated Hanninen. Nicolas Vouilloz finished third in another works Fabia, with Stephane Sarrazin the top Peugeot finisher in fourth. Jan Kopecky, the runner-up in last year's IRC standings, dropped out of contention with a puncture on the very first stage but fought back to claim fifth while Briton Guy Wilks made it four Skoda Fabia Super 2000s in the top six. 'The Monte Carlo Rally is one of the world's great rallies and it's a big thrill to win here,' said the 29-year-old Hirvonen. 'It was a long, hard event and the conditions made the challenge even tougher. 'This car is brand new to competition but everything worked perfectly from the first kilometre. That's a tribute to the whole team, and particularly the people who put in so much effort over the last two weeks. 'To start the season with a win is a big confidence boost. I enjoy the winning feeling and I want to carry on like this when the WRC starts next month in Sweden.' M-Sport managing director Malcolm Wilson said: 'It's a dream debut for our new Fiesta S2000. We led from the first stage to the last and didn't experience a single problem, which is hugely encouraging for a new car. Mikko drove at exactly the pace he needed to win and his feedback will be crucial in our further development of the Fiesta. 'I would also like to thank the team at M-Sport, which has put so much effort and commitment into turning this car from a blank sheet of paper into a Monte Carlo Rally winner in just nine months.' Final Result: 1 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Fiesta S2000 4h32m58.5s 2 Juho Hanninen/Mikko Markkula Skoda Fabia S2000 +1m51.4s 3 Nicolas Vouilloz/Benjamin Veillas Skoda Fabia S2000 +3m19.1s 4 Stephane Sarrazin/Jacques Julien Renucci Peugeot 207 S2000 +7m25.5s 5 Jan Kopecky/Petr Stary Skoda Fabia S2000 +8m48.7s 6 Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh Skoda Fabia S2000 +9m24.5s 7 Bruno Magalhaes/Carlos Magalhaes Peugeot 207 S2000 +9m45.4s 8 Jean-Sebastien Vigion/Stephane Prevot Peugeot 207 S2000 +13m33.5s 9 Jaroslav Orsak/Karel Vajik Skoda Fabia S2000 +21m16.6s 10 Andrej Jereb/Miran Kacin Peugeot 207 S2000 +25m26.1s