Latvala grabs WRC win for Toyotaposted in WRC12 | 02 | 2017

    TOYOTA SCORED ITS first World Rally Championship win since 1999 when Jari-Matti Latvala powered his all-new Yaris WRC to victory in Sweden.

    “I am so, so happy. For a new team and new car to win its second rally: I really have no words,” Latvala, who stated the season by finishing second in the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally said. “Huge thanks to all the team. Now we are super-motivated to continue like this.”

    Latvala claimed Toyota’s first win just two events into its comeback season after Thierry Neuville crashed out on Saturday's last stage, for the second WRC event in a row.

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    Frustratingly for Neuville, who hit a post in the season-opening Monte Carlo breaking his suspension,

    he repeated the error when he clattered a concrete block on Saturday's superspecial in Karlstad. At the time, the Norwegian held a 40-second advantage, with only three stages to run.

    With Neuville rather embarrassingly stomping away in frustration from his damaged Hyundai, what had been an intense battle for second was elevated to a fight for the lead, with Latvala in top spot ahead of M-Sport's Ott Tanak and Sebastien Ogier.

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    Latvala started today’s final three stages with a slender 3.8s advantage over Tanak’s M-Sport Ford Fiesta, but two rapid times from the Toyota driver on Sunday morning extended his lead to over 20s before the powerstage.

    In contrast, his two chasers hit problems: Tanak’s Ford suffered with a loose rear end, and Ogier — completely out of character — spun at the first corner of the first stage on Sunday.

    Latvala further boosted his points haul by winning the powerstage to grab an extra five championship points. His victory, by 29.2s, was Toyota's first WRC victory since Didier Auriol won Rally China in 1999, ahead of Richard Burns and Scots co-driver Robert Reid in their Subaru.

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    Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal, four-times world champ Tommi Makinen, was understandably delighted with the win.

    “It’s very hard to find the words to describe what I am feeling right now,” the Finn admitted. “Monte-Carlo was an unexpected result, but this is beyond unexpected.

    “Of course we were lucky to have this win, but it’s also a huge tribute to the talent of Jari-Matti and the united team work that has taken place in Finland, Germany and Japan.

    “It’s an incredible feeling and I just want to thank everybody who has made it possible. This is a special day that we are all going to remember for a very long time, but at the same time we will keep our feet on the ground now and continue to work as hard as always.”

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    Tanak held on to finish second, his second successive podium finish on his return to M-Sport in 2017, with four-time world champ and Monte winner Ogier third.

    Colin McRae protege Kris Meeke would have been on for fourth, but he crashed out of contention on Saturday afternoon, after also finding trouble in Monte Carlo.

    Fellow Brits, Meeke’s Citroen team-mate Craig Brren, and M-Sport Fiesta driver Elfyn Evans, finished fifth and sixth respectively.

    Latvala now heads to Mexico for the next round of the world championship on March 9 leading the title race by four points from Ogier.

    FIA World Rally Championship — Rally Sweden (Result):

    1. Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila Toyota 2h36m03.6s

    2. Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja Ford +29.2s

    3. Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia Ford +59.5s

    4. Dani Sordo, M.Marti Hyundai +2m11.5s

    5. Craig Breen, S.Martin Citroen +2m51.2s

    6. Elfyn Evans, D.Barritt Ford +5m26.6s

    Related: Roadtest — Toyota C-HR 1.8 Hybrid CVT

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    Jim McGill

     

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