Latvala romps home to take sixth place
Last updated 19:53, Thursday, 09 October 2008
JARI-MATTI Latvala and Miikka Anttila stormed home on round 12 of the FIA World Rally Championship to finish sixth on the RallyRACC Catalunya – Rallye de España.
Team-mates Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin also put in a solid performance to finish ninth and claim the final manufacturer points position for their Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team who maintain fourth position in the championship.
Latvala started out in eighth place but quickly advanced two spots after some positive changes to the set-up of his Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 overnight which increased his confidence tenfold.
Fighting in a two-day battle with Australian driver Chris Atkinson, the Finn came out on top by a mere 1.1 seconds after starting the final leg 2.5 seconds down.
The 23-year-old struggled over the opening two days to find a good feeling with the car and his confidence after what he describes as a “black August” which saw him have three accidents in as many WRC events.
On Sunday, however, the Finn was a changed man, setting some amazing stage times including a second fastest on the 16.32 kilometre Riudecanyes 2 test.
A slight fading of brakes on the initial sections of the opening stage of the rally was the only major issue for Wilson, who also battled with understeer on the opening two days as he got to grips with the smooth Tarmac stages.
Sitting in 10th position for the majority of the event, the 21-year-old was happy to advance one place after taking a calculated risk in the morning by opting to run on a soft compound Pirelli PZero tyre despite most WRC crews electing to run with the firmer option. It was an option, however, which proved to work in his favour as he set relatively faster times on all six stages on the day.
Tens of thousands of fans flocked to the Costa Daurada region to catch a glimpse of their WRC heroes as Rally Catalunya kicked off with a ceremonial start on Thursday night in the main street of Salou – the host town of Rally HQ and Service Park.
Eighteen fast-paced special stages set the course for competitors as they covered a total of 353.62 kilometres of competitive distance over the three days. The itinerary was laid-out identically on all three days with the set-up being a repeat loop of three stages broken up by a midday service.
The longest stage of the event came on Saturday when crews passed over the 38.27 kilometre El Priorat/La Ribera d’Ebre test.
Conditions stayed friendly for the entire event with blue skies and sunshine temperatures climbing as high as 25 degrees centigrade.
The Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team will now head straight across the Mediterranean for round 13 of the WRC, Rally de France – Tour de Corse.
Latvala said: “This rally started off quite frustrating for me but actually, when I look back, it was positive and we found a good setting.
“Without a test before the event it took us some time to get things feeling the way I wanted and Friday morning was frustrating as I didn’t have a good feeling and also my confidence was low.
“But we changed some things and I started to drive a bit less aggressively and that seemed to work.
“Now the car set-up is right I have the confidence to push some more so from that point of view it has been very productive.
“Also I’m pleased to have scored some more points for my old team Stobart and hopefully I can repeat this in Corsica.”
Wilson said: “It’s always great for me to score more points for the team and especially here in Spain as most of the top drivers have had tests before the rally.
“It was also important to not make any mistakes with Corsica so close as this takes some pressure off the Stobart team mechanics.
“With no real testing I find it beneficial to have two events very close together; we finished off this rally well, with a good set-up and confidence, and that means we will start in Corsica with this fresh in my mind.”
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson said: “Once again it has been a strong team performance from the Stobart team and both drivers have really improved throughout the duration of the rally.
“They haven’t put a wheel wrong and preserved the cars well for Corsica. It was great to see Jari-Matti’s confidence improving as the event progressed and I’m pleased he managed to clinch sixth place on the final day.
“Matthew’s pace has improved and his consistency has been important throughout this event so things are looking good for the next rally.”
