Mikko Hirvonen, Following Crash, Doesn’t Think Toyota is Ready for Racing
Mikko Hirvonen, a Finnish X-Raid driver, had his automobile severely damaged in mid-January.
The crash occurred during the Chilecito San Juan stage of the Dakar 2017 race. According to Motorsport.com, Hirvonen began the race in fifth place in overall classification, but after suffering a few setbacks during the test performance, including a gearbox failure and two punctures, it became evident he wasn’t going to successfully finish the event.
“There’s one truck we were following for a long time,” said Hirvonen, the 36-year-old, 15-time winner. “And then that truck passed a slower truck, which then ended up being in the dust of the faster truck.”
Even outside of the racetrack, these kinds of car accidents can still result in serious injuries and expensive damage. In 2015, the average comprehensive auto insurance claim was for $1,671 and the average collision claim was for $3,350. Motocross drivers race at high speeds, and they are much more dangerous and can result in even more expensive and harmful damages.
“My gearbox was broken, so I couldn’t reverse and run away,” Hirvonen added. “In the dust, he didn’t see us, he reversed on top of the bonnet and broke the radiator.”
Autosport reports that Hirvonen, despite fixing the majority of his damaged vehicle, believes that Toyota is not ready for the 2017 season opener.
World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen developed the Toyota Yaris WRC and plans on unveiling the vehicle at the 2017 season opener in January. Both Jari-Matti Latvala and Juho Hanninen will be behind the wheel of the WRC.
“I think maybe they are not completely ready yet,” Hirvonen said, after testing the Yaris in 2016. “The had such a tight schedule to develop the car, and what I’m hearing is that there’s still some work to do. But Jari-Matti has a lot of experience already, and if he can really focus and get the team behind him as well, yeah, they might.”
Hirvonen remained skeptical that the Japanese manufacturer will be ready to win any races, at least during the first part of 2017.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen in the first half of the season,” he added, “maybe later on they’ll be able to fight for the podiums.”
- This entry was posted in Contributed by Contributor. Bookmark the permalink.
