Jari-Matti Latvala |
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Born | April 3, 1985 |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 2002–present |
| Teams | Stobart Ford, Ford |
| Rallies | 105 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 5 |
| Podiums | 25 |
| Stage wins | 204 |
| Total points | 481 |
| First rally | 2002 Rally Great Britain |
| First win | 2008 Swedish Rally |
Jari-Matti Latvala (born April 3, 1985) is a Finnish rally driver competing in the World Rally Championship. His co-driver has been Miikka Anttila since the 2003 Rallye Deutschland. He is well known for his aggressive driving style, which earns him many plaudits, and comparisons to the late Colin McRae.
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Latvala began driving when he was eight years old, after receiving a Ford Escort from his father Jari Latvala, also a rally driver and 1994 national champion in the Group N class.[1] At the age of ten, Latvala started practicing with an Opel Ascona on a frozen lake.[2]
Latvala's first world rally was the 2002 Rally Great Britain at the age of 17. He finished in 17th position with a Mitsubish Lancer Evolution VI. In 2003, Latvala competed in four WRC events with a Ford Focus WRC, finishing tenth at the Acropolis Rally, 17th at the Rallye Deutschland, 14th at the Neste Oil Rally Finland and tenth at the Rally Great Britain.[3]
In 2004, Latvala mostly competed with an S1600 class Junior World Rally Championship car. His best overall result in the World Rally Championship was 21st with a Group N Subaru Impreza WRX STI at the Tour de Corse. In the 2005 season, Latvala competed in nine world rallies; six with the Group N Impreza and three with a World Rally Car. His best overall result was 16th, which he managed three times; at the Swedish Rally with a Toyota Corolla WRC and at the Tour de Corse and the Rally d'Italia Sardegna with the Impreza.[3]
In 2006, Latvala competed in 11 world rallies. He drove the Subaru Impreza WRX STI in six, a Ford Focus WRC in four and a Toyota Corolla WRC at his home event, the Neste Oil Rally Finland. His best results came in the last three rallies. At the Telstra Rally Australia, he won the Production Car World Rally Championship (PCWRC) class, and finished sixth overall. At the Propecia Rally New Zealand, he finished eighth overall and also won the PCWRC. With the Focus WRC, he recorded his career-best result by finishing fourth at the last event of the season, the Rally Great Britain. Points from these rallies then placed Latvala 13th overall in the drivers' championship.[3]
In 2007, Latvala competed a full 16-event programme for Stobart M-Sport Ford with Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg as teammates. He started the season with retirements in Monte Carlo and Sweden.[4][5] At the Rally Norway, Latvala was in contention for his first podium place, but had to settle for fifth after a 90 seconds time penalty. He did, however, take his first stage win on SS5.[6] Latvala later took his first podium at the 2007 Rally Ireland. At the last rally of the season, Rally GB, he lost 10 minutes on the last stage of day one due to windscreen wiper failure, but went on to win ten of the remaining 11 stages under the SupeRally rules, finishing 10th overall.
In 2008, Latvala joined Ford's factory team as a number two driver, partnering Mikko Hirvonen and replacing Marcus Grönholm who had announced his retirement from the WRC at the end of 2007.[7] The opening round of the season wasn't lucky for the young Finn – he suffered a puncture after cutting a corner too deep on the very first stage and lost even more time because of a non-fully operative pneumatic wrench.[8] Latvala continued to fight and was ninth overall before SS12, but he made another mistake there and heavily damaged the front left suspension in his Focus, forcing himself to retire for good.[9] At the second rally of the season, 2008 Swedish Rally, he had good pace from the beginning – he won all regular special stages on day one, pulling away from the runner-up spot slowly, but consistently. He later had some problems[10] and wasn't the fastest on any of the remaining stages, but managed to keep his position throughout the rally. The 22-year-old therefore took his first WRC win to become the youngest winner in the history of the World Rally Championship. The previous record was held by Henri Toivonen who was 24 years and 86 days old when he won the 1980 RAC Rally.[11] For his performance during the Swedish rally Latvala was given the Abu Dhabi Spirit Of The Rally award.[12] At the first gravel event of the season, the 2008 Rally México, despite officially claiming no intentions to win the event,[13] he was the fastest driver on the first two stages and was leading the rally throughout the first day, pulling out from the current World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb. Unfortunately for the young Finn, the turbo in his Ford Focus was malfunctioning during the second day, making his car uncompetitive. This, along with having to be the opening driver on the stages 9–16, having to sweep the track of the loose gravel, cost him a substantial amount of time and Latvala finished the rally third.[14]
For 2009 the expectation was for Latvala to progress in his performance as number two driver for Ford's factory team. However the start of the season became a big disappointment for the team, as Latvala went off the road in three of the first four rallies of the year. In Portugal, he and his co-driver Miikka Anttila were lucky to escape injury in the most serious crash in Latvala's career. They went off the road on a left-hand bend and rolled 17 times, 150m down a steep hill, and finally came to rest against a tree. Latvala had specifically been focusing to combat his driver weaknesses going into this rally, so the accident put some extra pressure on him for the future, although he also admitted that he would fully understand if the team did not require his services because of his erratic reputation. However, after a consistent, steady drive in Argentina, Latvala went on to take his second WRC win of his career on Rally Sardinia ahead of teammate Mikko Hirvonen. He led from beginning to end, hence driving as first car on the road on both day two and three.[15][16]
Latvala remains with the Ford factory team for 2010. Following his many crashes in 2009, he now has the official position of number two driver whereas last year there was no official distinction between him and team mate Hirvonen. After Round 1 in Sweden Latvala came 3rd in his first podium this season. Round 2 in Mexico Jari-Mati Latvala came 5th and in Round 3- Rally Jordan came 2nd in this is his second podium this year. On Round 4 in Rally Turkey he crashed on stage 10-day 2. He went on the next round (round 5) to winning his first rally of this season in New-Zealand. In Round 6 in Rally Portugal he crashed out, Round 7 in Bulgaria he finnished 6th. In this year's 8th round the Finnish Rally he claimed his second win of his season, while his team-mate Mikko Hirvonen crashed out. Latvala now ahead of his team mate by 19 points in 4th. After his fourth place in Germany, the third place in Japan anth the two fourth places in France and Spain, Latvala managed to finish the season on the podium in Wales. His third place brought him the second place in the overall classification behind record-champion Loeb.
| # | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally | 2008 | Miikka Anttila | Ford Focus RS WRC 07 |
| 2 | 6º Rally d'Italia Sardegna | 2009 | Miikka Anttila | Ford Focus RS WRC 09 |
| 3 | 40th Rally New Zealand | 2010 | Miikka Anttila | Ford Focus RS WRC 09 |
| 4 | 60º Rally Finland | 2010 | Miikka Anttila | Ford Focus RS WRC 09 |
| 5 | 67th Wales Rally GB | 2011 | Miikka Anttila | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Ford Puma S1600 | MON Ret |
13th | 5 | ||||||
| Ford Fiesta S1600 | GRE Ret |
TUR Ret |
|||||||||
| Suzuki Ignis S1600 | FIN Ret |
GBR 4 |
ITA Ret |
ESP 9 |
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | MON 5 |
MEX 9 |
ARG | GRE 6 |
JPN 9 |
CYP | AUS 1 |
NZL 1 |
4th | 27 |
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henri Toivonen 24 years, 86 days (1980 RAC Rally) |
Youngest Rally Winner 22 years, 313 days (2008 Swedish Rally) |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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