Hirvonen aims for regular podiums

Hirvonen was lying in third place midway through the opening day, however an alternator belt failure sent his water temperature to 140 degrees centigrade, causing him to stop and retire from the first leg.

The Finn rejoined with a ten-minute penalty for missing the stages but fought back to finish 11th, and because of results from privateers, he picked up manufacturers' championship points for Ford.

Following his pace on the snow, the Finn believes that the Focus will be competitive in the first gravel event of the year - next month's Rally Mexico.

"You think about what could have been," Hirvonen said, "and okay, this rally went like this, but the car is working for the future.

"We have the pace now to fight for the podium. That's good news. I'm sure the car will be very good on gravel now as well, so I can't wait for the next rally."