Tenth time brings victory

Rally Wales is like a home rally to me because I started my career in Great Britain. This was my tenth time in this rally and I have always wanted to win it. It really was extremely wonderful to finally win there. Rally Wales and the former RAC rally belong to the classic races. I have won another classic race, too, when I won rally Finland last year. Still the best victory was in Sweden in 2008 when I won my first race ever in the series. Thinking of classic races every driver wants to win Monte Carlo. It is very hard to fulfill that dream but not impossible. Monte Carlo is the place where our next season begins. The beginning of the season of 2011 was a bit challenging because I rolled my car twice in the tests before the actual season had even started. In spite of those difficulties my four first rallies went well and I was only eight points behind the leader of the series. But then in the next three rallies in Sardinia, Argentina and Greece I met some difficulties. In Sardinia my co-driver made a mistake which led to driving off the road and breaking the suspension. And more difficulties were waiting in Greece where I first had problems with the transmission and then I broke my turbo. After all that I realized that my chance to win the title was almost nil. That was a difficult moment and made me feel really bad. My season ended gracefully, though, because I won in Wales. This victory opens mental blocks on my mind and helps me to prepare for the next season. If this victory had not come I would have had more pressure to win during the next season. There were other positive things besides this victory in this season. I got more self confidence and I learned to drive better on tarmac. I also became more decisive. It is not yet one hundred per cent sure that Ford will continue in the series next year. I have a contract with M-Sport that runs team Ford’s rally activities but M-Sport and Ford have not yet signed a contract for the next season. The teams must enter by mid December and after rally Wales the team principal Malcolm Wilson hoped that everything would be solved by that time. I’m quite sure that I’ll drive in M-Sport during the next season one way or another but if Ford will not participate there will be no testing and no developing of the car. The rally season is over but my life continues busy. In November – December I’m driving one test competition in France and I also drive tests that will prepare me and the car for rally Monte Carlo. I will also charge my batteries by having a holiday in the USA and Canada.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.

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Work was rewarded

This was my best Rally Catalonia ever. I realized already on the last day of Rally France that I can drive on tarmac better than ever before. During the last years I have done a lot to become a better driver on tarmac. Last year I trained on the old track of Nurburgring in Germany and this year I have been able to drive more tests on tarmac. Before Rally France my Fiesta started to feel really good on tarmac for the first time. We changed the set up a bit before this rally here in Spain. We made the car a bit stiffer in the front and the car felt very good right away. For the first time all the ingredients of driving on tarmac were there. Only one thing annoyed me a bit: on the last stage of Friday there was so much dust that we span because of it. It was hard for me to accept that the dust did not bother Sebastien Loeb who was driving first and we lost to him so much on that stage. That is why I drove too fast to a right corner where we ended up between two trees and had to wait for the dust to be dispelled. Furthermore we hit a few rocks and had a puncture. Without this stage we could have had a huge battle with Sebastien Loeb for the victory. On Sunday I knew that I could not catch Loeb by driving which influenced my driving. Not even the notes were as good as on Saturday which forced me to change them while racing. It was a big relief to our team to see that the Fiesta is competitive on tarmac and that even the driver has improved. Everyone in the team was very pleased although we did not win. We can say now that the Ford’s performance reaches that of the Citroen’s. Both Mikko Hirvonen’s car and mine had the same set up. Rally France was not a successful one for Mikko which perhaps caused problems and made it difficult for him to drive. The Fiesta is sturdy and more like a track race car. It has not been easy for Mikko to get to know this new and harder car. After Rally Catalonia there are three PR events for me and then I test for one day. After testing it is time to go to Wales. Mikko and Loeb will be competing there for the title for the last time this season. The weather could be wet or dry, sunny or rainy which adds up the excitement. If Mikko wants to win he has to start sharply. If he starts to lose right at the beginning it will be very difficult to catch the leader. I try to drive for the victory but of course I will keep an eye on what is going on between Mikko and Loeb. If possible and needed I will help Mikko even there. A piece of sad news in motorsport came from Malaysia where Marco Simoncelli died in motoGP race. Only a few weeks earlier Simoncelli spent a couple of days at M-sport with Mikko. He drove a WRC then, too. It is always very sad to have accidents like that and it feels so hard and wrong but there are risks in every sport. Every time you put a helmet on you have to be ready to face danger.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.

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Battling for the title and team speculations

Sebastien Loeb was forced to be disappointed in his home rally because he had to retire due to a technical fault which was very surprising. The Citroen has been most reliable through his whole career so it was hard to understand this. But a fault is a fault. Loeb’s retirement made the situation in the series very interesting. Both Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen are now leading with 196 points each and even Sebastien Ogier is close by with his 193 points. Hirvonen wasn’t at his best in France but he received lots of points because Petter Solberg, who was third, was disqualified. His car was too light. I hope Mikko could win the title. There are two more rallies to be driven – in Catalonia and Wales – both of which suit Hirvonen in my opinion. And if he performs well in both of them he has a good chance to win the title. Loeb is still the number one candidate to be the world champion. He has done badly in the last two rallies which of course gives him more pressure. And furthermore Hirvonen was number one and three in those two rallies. I believe that team Citroen won’t let Ogier challenge Loeb for the title; he may win the championship only if Loeb gets into trouble in the last two events. During rally France there were lots of speculations on changing teams. Hirvonen may go from Ford to Citroen and Ogier the other way round. Hirvonen has been working for Ford for years and knows the team so well that going to the Citroen team wouldn’t be easy. Working in a French team would be different and he should also get to know the team personnel. There is a threat, too: he should agree on being driver number two (Loeb being number one). But there might be some advantages, too. First of all variety is a spice of life and the car would definitely be a 100 per cent competitive and reliable. If Hirvonen could drive well and Loeb would meet some problems Mikko could battle for the title. There has been minor misunderstanding between Loeb and Ogier during this season. I believe it depends on their characteristics. If Ogier would go to Ford he – this is how I believe – would like to beat Loeb more than to be difficult for his own team. I get along well with Ogier and I think I could work with him. Of course it would be nice to continue as a team mate with Hirvonen. Perhaps during next month all this will be clear. I feel good after rally France. For the first time I won the last stage of the race (the power stage) and got three points of it. This victory was special because it game on tarmac. My driving on that surface was better than ever and I felt like going somewhere. My performance was a bit unstable though. I had a minor off road incident on Friday and even on the last day of the rally I made a mistake in driving.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.

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Rally Australia 2011

I almost won Rally Australia. I was leading the race by 20 seconds before the last three stages. This time the team wanted me to slow down and Mikko Hirvonen to win. Mikko has still got a chance to win the title whereas I don’t. That is why my co-driver and I had to slow down and sacrifice the victory to Mikko. For the team a double win is the same whoever is number one and who is number two. I understood the situation well: this was the time that called for team work. Still it is never nice to slow down in the race. The most important thing for me was the knowledge that I was fast enough to win the rally. My driving went so well I could have been able to keep the boys behind me. I felt good. Also working as a team went well and Mikko Hirvonen thanked me for that after the race. He said that he would have done the same for me in the situation like that. Sebastien Loeb’s and Sebastien Ogier’s rally went wrong as early as on Friday. Loeb was leading the race when he drove off the road on stage two. Now Ogier led the rally. And he, too, went off the road a couple of stages later. I had difficulties on exactly the same spot where he went off. I almost hit a tree on a left hand corner which was very muddy. On Friday the conditions were shockingly terrible. Usually the weather in Australia is nice and warm but now it was raining and the roads turned into mud. With the tyres we had driving in the mud was very difficult. The next event is Rally France which is very important for Mikko Hirvonen in his battle for the title. Mikko needs a good result in that rally. The last two races will be in Spain and in Wales the both of which Mikko has to win to get the title. Traditionally Rally France is a piece of cake for the Citroens so it will not be easy for Mikko to manage there. But you never know beforehand what will happen in the rallies. That was also seen in Australia where both Citroens went off the road. Loeb is leading the series by 15 points but I believe that Mikko still has a chance. What happens inside the Citroen team helps Mikko. The competition there between the team mates causes lots of pressure. I believe that the one who is able to drive the last rallies without mistakes wins the title. I, too, am going to confuse the battle for the title by fighting for the podium positions in the last rallies. I hope I will be able to win a race during this season. Three times already it has been so very close.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.

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Everything went wrong

Honestly I have to say that this past weekend was the hardest experience for me during my whole career as a team driver. Phew! Rally Germany is behind and I’m totally exhausted. Simply everything went wrong in Germany. The race started promisingly when I drove the fastest time on stage one. At that moment I thought that this might be a nice weekend. How wrong I was! The second stage showed the direction where this rally would go: towards a total disaster. Right before the start of stage two a heavy shower of rain surprised my team and me. We had hard tyres while the Citroens had soft tyres and you all know how that would end. We were 40 seconds behind the leading Citroens at the finish. Not only on the stages had I problems but also otherwise. During the night before Saturday I became sick with stomach flu. I was in a pretty bad shape but somehow I was able to continue the race. On Saturday I made mistakes myself but there was also one puncture. Troubles and more troubles. On Sunday I tried to attack but that did not succeed because once again I had a puncture. At that moment my thoughts naturally were pitch-dark. I can divide my problems into three: the weather forecast done by our team did not work, the tyres (both Mikko’s and mine) broke down and our car was not good enough, it still needs adjusting. The car is better than last year but especially the brakes and the suspension must be improved. I hope those problems can be solved though. Michelin tyres seem to break rather easily which means that even they have to sit down and think of what to do. My only thought after the rally was how to get out of the hotel and out of Germany as fast as possible. I needed to get somewhere to be alone and think, with no rush. The next rally will be on gravel in Australia and I believe that we will be stronger there. In Jyvaskyla we found a good gravel set-up in our car which provides us with self confidence before rally Australia. It is more than obvious that the Citroen drivers go fast. Sebastien Ogier’s victory in Germany was a fine proof of that. They also made history in Germany: this was the first time ever when someone else than Sebastien Loeb won rally Germany.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.

Only the victory was missed

It was once again great to compete on the gravel roads of Finland. This is a fantastic rally, definitely best arranged in the world in my opinion. I also liked visiting Lahti region. The service downtown Lahti and the event arranged around it were well organized. It was wonderful to see Finnish flags on the stages and see how Finns support their own drivers. Many spectators came to say to me how well I was driving. Of course the best moment of this weekend would have been winning the race but that I could not do and yet I had a good feeling after the weekend. I won Rally Finland last year and this year’s result was a bit of a disappointment although I have to be content of being number two. The last three rallies have gone badly for me so standing on the podium in Jyvaskyla was a good thing. Another positive thing in the race was that I was able to beat Sebastien Ogier and I was also able put pressure on Sebastien Loeb. Unfortunately we ran out of stage kilometers in our battle to win the rally. Sebastien Loeb showed what the champion is made of. He knew when to attack and seized the opportunity which came on Saturday morning on Leustu stage. The humidity of the night had condensed on the surface of the road adding the grip which helped Loeb who was the first on the road. He attacked and increased his lead. Loeb’s fastest time on Leustu stage was 6.5 seconds faster than the second fastest time. I was ten seconds slower than him. I was not that much slower than him on any other stage so this top time of his was a crucial one. It may be that this was Loeb’s last race in Jyvaskyla. I believe that he is ending his career after this season if he wins the eighth title in a row. If he does not win he may be eager enough to continue one more season. My teammate Mikko Hirvonen had a lousy start of the weekend because he hit a tree and damaged his car the way he lost time on every stage. Persistently he continued the race and drove so fast he started to catch the lead. Without the problems he would have won the rally so fast he drove but one must remember that the farther back one drives the less pressure one has. The Finns Jari Ketomaa and Matti Rantanen started the rally extremely well but unfortunately they both drove off the road and the race was over. Ketomaa was even leading the rally after stage one. And nowadays it is very rare that there is someone else than Hirvonen, Loeb, Ogier, Petter Solberg or myself in the lead.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.

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Acropolis rally 2011

I went to Greece to find a good feeling after Rally Argentina which was a disaster. But now afterwards I have to admit that Rally Greece wasn’t a very successful one. Actually I could say that my whole weekend went to a wrong direction. The main reason for that were technical problems. The car just wasn’t strong enough. These technical problems started already on Friday, the opening day of the rally. The transmission broke down and we had no time to start fixing the car so that was it. The problems with the transmission took us by surprise because none of them were shown in the tests. Then came Saturday and more technical problems. On the first stage of the day we suddenly lost all power. We tried to find the reason for that during the road section but nothing was found. In the service we found out the turbo had broken down which was extremely annoying because in spite of the problems on Friday I wanted to have a fresh start of the race on Saturday. The peak of this frustrating weekend came on Sunday when the rear anti-roll bar stopped working not on the last stage but on the stage before that. This meant that on the last stage the car pushed all the time. All in all the technical problems eat the motivation of the driver very much. It is frustrating to compete if the car doesn’t work properly. Of course the team was sorry for what was happening and they gave me lots of sympathy. They promised to send the broken parts to be studied because it seemed obvious that the material was faulty. I still tried to find at least some feeling into my driving and I did find it on the night stage. Still I wouldn’t want to drive in the rallies the whole night. What happened in Greece caused the title to go too far from me. I am so much behind in the points already. This means that the manufacturer’s title is the goal now. One must remember though that getting that title demands even my car to work in the upcoming rallies. It is time to relax a while and charge one’s batteries. The next race will be in Jyvaskyla at the end of July where I won last year and my aim is to do that again. It feels good to have a break because I have been very busy testing and trying to develop the car. Now it’s time to catch my breath and after the break a new leaf will be turned. My summer vacation plans include especially spending time at a summer cottage in Ostrobothnia. There one can swim and sauna bathe properly and enjoy the Finnish nature.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.

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Rally Sardinia 2011

I felt a bit disappointed after Rally Sardinia. Two points were much less I was hoping for. My expectations were high before the start. I went there to win because Sardinia has always been my favorite and I did win it two years ago. I was eager to start racing because in the last rally in Jordan I was left second by an irritatingly small time difference. Chasing after the victory ended quickly though because I turned my car over on the first stage. There was a slight misreading of the notes by my co-driver Miikka Anttila and that was it. We had no chance to be able to drive the corner so fast I did. Further away it looked like a spot to drive flat-out but it wasn’t. I had time to brake a little but it was slippery downhill and the rear of the car lost the grip and so we went into the ditch. Miikka and I have driven over 100 rallies together. This was the first time Miikka made a mistake. I have always been the one to make them and to ditch many cars. But what can you say? People make mistakes which can’t be helped. Driving off the road on the first section of the stage was also something that had never happened before. It all happened only three kilometers from the start of the first stage. We decided to continue the rally on Saturday (SuperRally rule allows it) and the two last days went well. I also tried to get three points on the last TV stage (power stage) but Mikko Hirvonen was faster even if my driving went smoothly, too. On Saturday and Sunday I managed to drive seven fastest times altogether. Of course one must remember that there was much less pressure in the situation like that: no chance to get to the podium. It is difficult to concentrate in and get motivated for driving when one has no one to compete with. Sebastien Loeb won the race. The Citroens and the Fords are competing pretty equally in the series at the moment. It seems that the Fords are better on roads which are slower and more technical. Those are the roads and the sections where I have been able to overcome the Citroens a bit. It was also interesting to see how the Minis were doing in Sardinia. This was their first rally in the series. Dani Sordo drove wisely, got to the finish and showed that the Mini was reliable. The times showed that the car had potential. Perhaps the drive grip is not as good as that in the Fords and the Citroens. My week continues so that at the end of the week I will do two PR days for my sponsor and after that we will go to Argentina to the next rally. Let’s hope that before Rally Argentina the Finns will celebrate the world championship in ice hockey.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.

Bitter rally history

Although I was second in rally Jordan my disappointment was extremely huge. At the end of the rally I felt that I had lost everything. I could not understand my 0.2 seconds’ loss. I had been in tough situations before but at that moment I felt really bad. After 24 hours I felt a bit more positive. My driving was smooth which I had to be happy with. I tried to catch Sebastien Ogier intensively on Saturday and I did catch him by 33 seconds before the last stage. It seemed that I could even win the race, but during the pursuit my tyres wore out more than those of anyone else so they were in a very bad shape. When the last stage started I knew that now it was time to drive flat out. I tried a bit too much and had three incidents on the way where it was hard to keep the car on the road. This is where I lost the battle. Ogier won the race by 0.2 seconds which is the tightest win ever in the history of rally racing. I have also been a part of the third tightest win in New Zealand. Again with Sebastien Ogier but then I won. On the last stage on Friday we had a strategy of slowing down because we didn’t want to be the first car on the road on Saturday. It would be better not to have these strategies at all but as long as the rules allow them they will be used by someone. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) slowed down on the last stage on Friday trying to lure either Sebastien Ogier or me to drive fast to the finish so that we would be ahead of him. I slowed down on that last stage, too, but Sebastien Ogier drove as usually and took the lead. If I had driven that stage flat out the Citroens would probably have kept themselves behind me. In that case I would have led by a few seconds but I also would have been the first car on the road and thus unable to fight for the victory. My driving was good in Jordan which our team principals thanked me for. They reminded me that it was rare to be able to catch the lead by over 30 seconds during one day. It was also fabulous that I could get the upper hand of Sebastien Loeb. When I was far enough from Loeb in times he stopped competing for real. That is so unlike Loeb. My opponent Ogier’s performance startled. He dared take the lead on Friday and was able to win though being the first car on the road. My hunger for winning increased due to this tight loss in Jordan. The next race will be in Sardinia where I won in 2009. Again I will go there to win.

Jari-Matti Latvala’s columns will be published in Ilta-Sanomat freshly after each rally.