Too much drama!

The end of rally Mexico turned out to be dramatic for me. We started the last day in third position but still we tried to push. We tried to get a very good time so that we could get closer to the Citroens. My rally was ruined on the 54 kilometer long stage after 43 kilometers. After a fast section I came out of a corner and saw a car upside down right in front of me. I panicked a bit because I thought that the car would be in the middle of the road. I braked and started to slide towards the edge of the road. The rear of my car hit a bank which rolled the car. There were many things that went wrong here. Jevgeni Novikov had driven off the road. He and his co-driver were a bit confused after the crash so they had asked the spectators to go and warn us who came from behind. In a crash like that there should be a proper warning plus at least a warning triangle on the road. Novikov’s car had broken down, there were all kinds of stuff on the road and no warning triangle had been found. So no one warned us when we reached that spot. Why weren’t we warned? was my first thought after I had crashed my car. I understand now the state on which Novikov and his co-driver were after their crash. Novikov’s car rolled five times while mine rolled only twice. I was able to limp with my car into the finish. Before the next stage a controller of the FIA saw that the safety roll bar of my car was slightly injured. I had a long and intensive discussion with him trying to get a promise to go on but in vain and that was the end of my race. It felt very bad because we did have only two more stages to go. There were some other mishaps in rally Mexico, too. On Friday I hit a huge rock which was lying on the road where there was a fast section. We have checked the in-car cameras of other cars, too, and the rock cannot be seen in the in-car of the car before me. While hitting that rock I broke the suspension of my car. In Mexico there usually are problems with the spectators who put rocks on the roads but that exact rock had rolled from the mountain bank. The retirement hit hard on my hopes for winning the title. If I had finished third and if I had succeeded to catch a few extra points on the power stage I would not be so very far from the lead. But now Sebastien Loeb is 40 points ahead which seems to be pretty much. There are still ten rallies to go and if our car is as competitive as it has been here I may still have a chance to win the title. And maybe Sebastien Loeb will miss all the points in some rally and I will get 28 points so … you never know. I feel good thinking of the next race in Portugal. Our car is competitive so there is no reason why I shouldn’t trust our car.

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

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Moments of fright and an important victory

I had some moments of fright on the last day of rally Sweden. On the first stages of that day I was able to increase my lead to Mikko Hirvonen with a few seconds. I felt relaxed and I tried to save my tyres. And still on the third last stage of the race I had a puncture. The right front tyre hit a rock and I felt how it immediately went flat. There were still eight kilometers to the finish. It was a bit frightening but I decided to drive as far as I could with that flat tyre. I was leading the race by over 30 seconds before the puncture. I knew that I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes at that point. In the finish I saw that I was about eight seconds ahead Mikko. I said to myself that it’s now or never. I took new tyres and decided to attack on the next stage. And I succeeded. My co-driver Miikka and I had to do lots of tyre work during the weekend. In this race the stages were snowy and icy when driven the first time. When driven the second time the surface was damaged which wore the tyres down. To make sure that every tyre was used the same amount of kilometers forced us to change their places after each and every stage. During this season there is only one service per day between morning and afternoon stages which means that we the drivers have to work with the car much more than before. In this rally there was one stage driven in the dark and of course we then needed extra lights which we had to fit ourselves before the stage. The fight for the victory with my ex teammate Mikko Hirvonen was very even. The most decisive stage concerning the victory was the last one on Friday. On that I was able to increase my lead to Mikko. We had fun, Mikko and I, when talking between the stages. But the competing was different from that when we were teammates. We talked more seriously and there was no talk about set ups and such. There was more psychological talk than before and just chit chat. The victory in Sweden is very important thinking of the series and the title. I have to be close to the top in every rally. Victories are needed to get the title and even if or when the race is going poorly I still have to be in top three. During the years of 2008 and 2009 I made more mistakes than any other top driver. In 2010 I was able to decrease the amount of mistakes and during last season I was close to Sebastien Loeb concerning mistakes. The key things on the way to the title will be driving evenly and reliably plus we have to be good in the rallies where the Citroens have been strong during the past years. The next race in Mexico is important because team Citroen has been overwhelming there for many years. But our car is competitive now. The pace and reliability were fixed at the end of last season. So everything is in order and we are as good as ready to go to Mexico with confidence. I believe that we will be truly competitive there. Our aim is to be in top three.

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

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Patience is a virtue

Rally Monte Carlo didn’t go the way I had planned. My race started even better than I had hoped for. The tyre choice succeeded and because of my good attack I led the race by almost 30 seconds after three stages. Sebastien Loeb was the second. On the fourth stage I had a bit wrong kind of tyres and drove onto an icy spot slightly too fast. I tried somewhat too hard and didn’t listen to my co-driver and the notes as carefully as I should. A corner after a crest surprised me and my car started to slide. Our speed was not very fast but the car went to the side of the road and up a bank. Behind it there was a three-meter fall where we fell rear ahead and landed on our side. The car was not damaged badly and we could have been able to continue the race with it but there were only about ten spectators and it was too hard for us to lift the car that weighs 1200 kilos back to the road. A tow truck was needed. The next couple of days after the retirement were bad. It really wasn’t nice to see the others race. But now that the rally is over and my calendar is quite full I will put myself together and go on. The super rally rule was not used in Monte Carlo, now that I really would have needed it. The differences grew so big in there that I would have been able to gain a reasonable amount of points but rules are rules and we knew them beforehand so it’s no use shilly-shallying. I didn’t find it difficult to drive as a leader of the race. A desire to win only grows in a situation like that. But I should have kept my head cool. Never have I started Rally Monte Carlo so well which of course was positive like the performance of our car. Sebastien Loeb was once again extremely good in Monte Carlo. He took his sixth win there and he even took three extra points on power stage. I tried to challenge him in the beginning of the rally because under a pressure even he may make mistakes and he may be beaten. Before Rally Sweden I will go to watch the Arctic Rally in Rovaniemi where my father is competing. I was thinking of participating myself but that cannot be arranged. Instead we will test the car for Rally Sweden in Northern Sweden after a week and a half. It’s great to go to Sweden because it is one of my favorite competitions. I hope there will be lots of snow during the rally. I believe that our car is very good on snow and on gravel. Now it is time for me to think of the points in the series. Loeb has 28 points and I don’t have any. There are 12 more rallies to go where there are altogether 300 points to be shared. I have to think the whole series not just one rally at the time. Patience is a virtue.

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

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