Infographics. Latvala beats Sainz to highest WRC appearances

At the 2019 Rally Sweden, Jari-Matti Latvala becomes the driver with the most WRC starts, beating Carlos Sainz. A look back at the statistics that explain this record.

Published on 14/02/2019 à 15:06

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Infographics. Latvala beats Sainz to highest WRC appearances

Oh no, Sébastien Loeb does not hold all records in the World Rally Championship (WRC) ! THE Rally of Sweden 2019 (February 14-17) is the opportunity for Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) to become the driver with the greatest number of WRC starts. With 197 participations, the Finn overtakes a rally Carlos Sainz, which had held the previous record since 2005.

The graph below compares the data of the 10 drivers with the highest number of WRC starts: Jari-Matti Latvala, Carlos Sainz, Petter Solberg, Sébastien Loeb, Mikko Hirvonen, Juha Kankkunen, Dani Sordo, Marcus Grönholm, Didier Auriol and Colin McRae.

Among this top 10, updated to include the 2019 Swedish Rally, several drivers are still active (Latvala, Loeb, Sordo). Special mention must be given to Marcus Grönholm. The Nordic retiree finally overtakes Didier Auriol by taking part in his first world rally in nine years on Swedish snow.

These statistics make it possible to understand everything the talent of Sébastien Ogier (Citroen). The Gapençais is only in 12th place with 138 starts, but has six crowns! The ratio of rallies/titles is therefore better than all its colleagues in the top 10.

In this top 10 of the most important WRC participations, Sébastien Loeb is “only” fourth, and has 23 fewer starts than Jari-Matti Latvala, more than a season apart between the two men.

Cette différence s’explique par la précocité du pilote officiel Toyota, comme vous le montre cet autre graphique, toujours en comprenant le top 10 des pilotes avec le plus grand nombre de participations en WRC :

Jari-Matti Latvala gets everyone in agreement. He was only 17 years old when he entered the Rally Wales in November 2002 in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI. That’s seven years ahead of the “Matador,” Carlos Sainz, and even eight years earlier than the French Sébastien Loeb and Didier Auriol!

Considered a young mad dog in the early 1990s, Colin McRae is the second driver to have started below the age of 20 (18 years old). His title in 1995 at the age of 27 still makes him the youngest WRC world champion today.