WRC – Latvala quickly admitted his defeat

After a disappointing first part of the season, Jari-Matti Latvala was keen to return to success on home soil in Finland. The Ford driver lost ground at the start of the event against the Citroën drivers, a gap which he never managed to make up for in the remaining stages. When Ouninpohja arrived, the Finn could only recognize the superiority of the DS3 WRC after having performed convincingly without committing the slightest mistake during the three stages. The only satisfaction comes from the small gap that separates him from his compatriot Mikko Hirvonen who is ahead of him by less than 30 seconds after the Ford driver secured his position at the end of the race.

“I was clearly not in great shape at the start of the event. I was having difficulty with the settings of my car. I was then able to improve the set-up but I didn't manage to go faster than the Citroëns”, recognized Jari-Matti Latvala who still occupies fifth place in the Championship, 21 points behind Mads Ostberg. “I pushed really hard without having any problems and everything was fine, but something was missing. Something was definitely missing and I don't know what. The difference is very small but it's annoying not to be able to set their pace. I understood on Friday afternoon that I could not fight against them. I was hoping to be faster in the ruts but we didn't get there and that's when I pretty much realized it. The positive thing is that I didn't make any mistakes, if you can call that a positive. It's good because that hasn't happened to me in a long time. »

Discover the analysis of Rally from Finland produced by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.