New driving for Latvala in Argentina

Responding frankly to the questions of the AUTOhebdo.fr special correspondent after the reconnaissance of the Argentina rally, Jari-Matti Latvala knows that he will have to redeem himself after a catastrophic start to the season.

The Cordoba region has not yet taken on its autumnal landscape. The foliage of the trees remains very green and the temperature is worthy of that of January in the heart of the southern summer. This summer weather, hot and dry, may not last before the departure of the rally of Argentina, 5th round of the World Rally Championship.

If the weather conditions can play a role on the stages which are predicted to be particularly rough, they do not disturb Jari-Matti Latvala who must get back in the saddle after his terrible antics at the Rally of Portugal: “ I'm not going to push as hard as I can at the beginning. First I have to regain my confidence. I had the opportunity to do two days of testing after the Portugal rally. This test was planned. It was not added after I left the road »

The withdrawals, which have been repeated since the start of the season, do not speak in favor of the young Finn, aware of his very poor performance: “ If Ford has practically lost all its chances in the constructors' championship, it's my fault. But nothing is finished. Last year we were in the lead halfway through the season and then everything changed. »

The Ford driver's place has never been called into question by Malcolm Wilson, who must however review his objectives in 2009: “ I have full confidence in Jari-Matti. Here, I am not going to ask him to take risks even if he benefits from a good position on the road on the first day as was already the case in Portugal. I now hope that he regains the confidence in his driving in order to have a good second half-season. With him, we are preparing for the future. It is not easy to change crews every season. I prefer to build the team over the long term. That said, the start of the season is clearly in Citroën's favor. Sebastian Loeb has progressed further and Dani Sordo is proving to be a perfect teammate like Mikko Hirvonen was when we were world champion in 2006 and 2007. The objective now is to aim for victories by counting on Mikko's speed and reliability. »