More success for Latvala in Finland

9th August 2010

By Richard Rodgers

Jari-Matti Latvala secured his second successive rally win in Finland when he won the Lahti Historic Rally last Saturday, seven days after triumphing on his country’s round of the World Rally Championship for the first time.

Driving a Ford Escort Mk2 alongside his father Jari’s navigator Asko Sairanen, Latvala cruised to a two-minute victory on the gravel event, despite a gearbox problem prior to the start.

Afterwards he said: “I really, really enjoyed my time in the Escort, but I have to admit it was a little bit stressful before the start. Having just come from a Focus World Rally Car, maybe I wasn’t being quite careful enough with the Escort and I broke the gearbox in the test on Monday. I worked on Tuesday to find the parts and the man who looks after my rally cars fixed it for me.

“But then it was recce Wednesday and Thursday, so suddenly it was quite a busy week. We got it sorted and the car was fantastic. Last year I won this event with three gears, after I suffered a problem with the gearbox then, but this time I had all five and it was perfect.”