Video. Top 5 biggest crashes by Jari-Matti Latvala

5. Rally of Australia 2017
Is there a worse way to abandon a rally? Probably not. Challenger of the leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) at the start of the last special of the season in Australia, Jari-Matti Latvala lost everything he had built over the previous three days by leaving the track. “I'm really, really sorry for the whole team and for the people at Toyota who made the trip. They wanted to share a beautiful moment with this podium, but I ruined everything”, explains the Finn, with a gloomy expression.

4. Rally Portugal 2014
In 2014, the battle for the title was confined to an internal duel between Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen). In the fifth special of the Portuguese round, the latter tries to make up for a gap of 0”2 on the Frenchman. It seems to be going well, since Latvala-Anttila is 1”3 ahead of Ogier-Ingrassia. But the Polo marked with No. 2 evolves beyond the limit. “In a left turn, the car understeered and went wide. I corrected the trajectory and thought I could catch up with the car, but there was a huge hole on the outside, perhaps because of yesterday's rain. I hit this hole and the car went off on two wheels, then the front hit the wall”, summarizes Jari-Matti Latvala.

3. Monte-Carlo Rally 2013
For his debut with Volkswagen, the Finn fell back into his mistakes in the first round of the calendar. In the running for fifth place on Sunday, Jari-Matti Latvala slipped on a patch of ice a few seconds after the start of the Turini special. The car crashes into a tree and is propelled towards a stone wall. “The trajectory, in which we could see the asphalt between the mixture of melted snow and rain, closed at the end of the curve,” explains the pilot. I bit into the snow and lost the rear of the Polo. »

2. Rally Argentina 2016
For once, Jari-Matti Latvala was the unfortunate passenger in his Polo. While leading the Rally Argentina by around fifteen seconds, his right front suspension broke at high speed. Impossible for the Finn to keep control: “The shock absorber came out of the hood. I couldn't turn the car anymore. I was in 'management' mode on this special. If I have to avoid every rock, then we can go home, there's no point in rallying! It's impossible to avoid all the stones when you want to win. »

1. Rally Portugal 2009
An accident that never ends! At the top of a ridge during the first stage of the Rally Portugal, the Ford Focus climbs an embankment, goes over the safety guardrail and rolls down a 150 meter ravine. The scene is memorable:

The data determines the duration of the crash at 19,5 seconds. After 12 rolls, the car stops against a tree. The crew escaped without the slightest injury! “It’s all my fault,” admits Jari-Matti Latvala. The day before the accident, I changed the rating of the turn, which was marked “Double warning”. I understood that you should never change your grades after recognition. »

“I quickly realized we were going to crash, so I tried to use the crash barrier to stop us. But we got over it and rolled over again and again. I even thought: “We're not going to get out of this, it never stops!” » When we stopped sliding down the slope, I looked at my teammate Miikka, his eyes were red and bloodshot from having his head thrown around. I told him: “Maybe this was our last rally. » I thought we were going to die."