Latvala: “I have to finish the rally with dignity”

Jari-Matti Latvala did not experience his last event with Volkswagen Motorsport as he hoped. The Finn made a mistake in the first special of the Rally of Australia and lost more than seven minutes at the front of the race by damaging his rear suspension. The Nordic driver finished the first stage in 16th place.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve found myself in this situation this year, recognized Jari-Matti Latvala. It was already over for me as soon as the rally started. I lost grip on a long right-hander just before a point in the first stage and hit the point with the right rear tire. It wasn't a big impact, but it was enough to damage the suspension and I lost a lot of time until service. »

“This is clearly not the way I wanted to say goodbye to the team for our last participation with Volkswagen. I must finish this rally with dignity”, underlined Jari-Matti Latvala.

His teammates are doing better as Andreas Mikkelsen leads the Rally Australia with 15 seconds ahead of Sébastien Ogier.

“It couldn't have gone better, it was a perfect day, rejoiced the Norwegian. The Polo R WRC was even better than this morning. the settings were impeccable and the car was fantastic to drive. The conditions changed in the second pass and we sometimes suffered from understeer and oversteer. We expected to lose a lot of time to those who were rushing behind us. We are almost doomed to win to finish runners-up and that is exactly what we are trying to do. »

The second stage of the Rally Australia will be contested from 22:28 p.m. (French time).