Latvala ruled the Rally Mexico

Jari-Matti Latvala drove 11 fastest times in the route of 21 stages in Rally Mexico which tells everything about the win battle in Mexico. Latvala controlled the competition from Friday to Sunday with perfect driving, good start position and tire choice.

– Fantastic and relieving victory, Latvala said about the win which was 16th during his WRC career. He has been at first place no less than in 11 different competitions.

– My tactic was to take all from the start position but to beware off the stones and to drive without taking any bigger risks. It was a success on Friday which boosted my self-confidence and I could speed up on Saturday, Latvala said.

Mountain air, roads covered by loose gravel and heat are the basic elements of Rally Mexico. Now the rally was spiced up by long stages. Excluding Safari Rally, 80-kilometer-long Guanajuato is the longest stage in WRC since Tour de Course in 1986.

However, on Sunday driven Guanajuato wasn’t the place where the name of the winner was confirmed even if the competition organizers wished so. By that time Latvala already had 1,5 minutes lead before Sebastien Ogier. French Ogier who leads the WRC drove the first days as the first car on the route and finished on the second place over minute behind Latvala. Latvala was the eighth car on the route for the two first days.

The rear brakes was the only problem

Latvala’s only problem at the competition was the overheated rear brakes at the long stages.

– There wasn’t enough cooling air for the brakes on the mountains. I drive with different brake set-up than Ogier so I face more problems with it, Latvala said.

For Latvala the challenge number one wasn’t Guanajuato but it was over 50 kilometer long, technical El Chocolate, driven twice on Friday. He was the fastest there at both driving times. Latvala didn’t take any risks at the Powerstage, and was second after Ogier. Ogier lead the WRC and Latvala who earned his first points in Mexice, was sixth. The gap between drivers 50 points.

Technical problems caused harm in Rally Sweden

The begin of Rally Sweden was quite special: the route was shortened into 13 stages because of warm weather. Still the day before the rally drivers were thinking if the route was good enough to compete. Only two stage that took place in Norway were icy and snowy. The route was primed by competition organizers who smoothened roads diligently and froze them with the help of cold nights. However, Jari-Matti Latvala couldn’t enjoy it much, as he had to retire at the last stage of the opening day as the control arm went broken. Before that he had drive with two-driven car earlier from the morning until the drive shaft went broken at the first stage.

– When I crossed the hillock and turned I heard a knock from the car pool. When I gave gas I felt that the car doesn’t push. From that moment on we have been driving with two-driven car, Latvala described the situation. At the last stage of the leg of six stages Latvala had to retire due to broken control arm.

– Such an odd thing. There was a little mistake when braking and then I heard a sound when the control arm from the front went broken. There weren’t stones or things like that. Never before had control arm went broken this easily, Latvala said.

The team agreeded with what happened to the control arm and drive shaft. Neither of these were driver’s mistakes. And what else, On Saturday there was a problem with a flat tyre before Latvala could continue normally driving. He drove three fastest times right away.

– I turned left at a junction and we hit a stone and that caused a puncture. It was pretty frustrating, Latvala said about the situation.

Powerstage was only stage driven on the final day. Latvala was first driver at the start of the Powerstage but was only fifth at the end of the rally. Therefore he got none WRC points.

– There was no ice on the surface of the road. There was only snow and loose gravel under it. There were no chances to beat the drivers coming behind, Latvala told about the role of first car.

Sebastien Ogier took the victory in Sweden, Hayden Paddon was at the second place and Mads Östberg was third.

It wasn’t the best start for the season in Rally Monte Carlo

There was a traditional mix plate in Monte Carlo: dry, icy and dampy tarmac and snow on the highest altitudes of the rally. Rally started on Thursday evening with two stages driven in the dark nearby Digne and On Friday rally was driven to north from Gap. 51,55 kilometers long Lardier et Valenca and Monte-legend Sisteron were driven twice On Saturday on the way to Monaco. On Sunday the competition headed to Col de Turin.

Latvala’s aim was to get a good start for the season but he wasn’t lucky enough. On Thursday’s leg the car hit into stone fence and for the next day Latvala was on seventh place 39 seconds behind the lead.

– Suddenly I lost the grip on the icy section and the rear hit. I wasn’t able to push because I didn’t know if there were something broken in rear suspension, Latvala said.

On the third day Latvala started on third place over minute behind Sebastien Ogier.

– This year we drive much with slicks as there are icy sections on the road – I don’t remember this happening earlier years. Usually there has been a mix of snow tires and studded tires, Latvala told about the leg.

The attempt to achieve good WRC points went to a pot on the third day on a junction turning to right at 11st stage when the car crashed out. When returning to the road Latvala hit accidentally but gently to a spectator.

– There was water on the road on a junction which startled me. When I was coming back to the road I didn’t see clearly because of the steam rising from the engine. I saw a spectator jumping on the side of the car and I continued driving slowly back to the road. After this my team contacted me and told that I had hit a spectator, Latvala summed the situation.

The actual retirement was caused by Latvala’s car charger and exceeding the maximum permissible time to be late from the stage start.

– The charger worked that much it didn’t indicate the problem with charging. When I tried to start the car, there was no power. It took a while to discover that there’s power in the battery of bolt machine, Latvala said. The drivers couldn’t use the rally 2 -rule for the final day of the rally, so Latvala got zero points from Monte. Sebastien Ogier was the winner and Andreas Mikkelsen on the second place.

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