Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala had very mixed feelings after the Rally Finland. While he personally competed in the WRC2 class and impressively finished second, as well as sixth overall, the overall result for Toyota’s WRC team was ultimately bleak, despite Sébastien Ogier’s victory.
Elfyn Evans, who had already retired once on Saturday, went off the road in the opening corner of the Sahloinen-Moksi stage. Kalle Rovanperä, who was leading the rally dominantly, also went off the road after hitting a large loose stone on the racing line.
“Just before the stage, I was chatting with Kalle, and the mood was good. It felt very unreal that his run ended so suddenly and the dominating driver was suddenly out. But this is motorsport, and sometimes it comes down to very small things,” Latvala lamented.
“I’ve had my share of incidents, and I’ve retired on the last stage as well. It feels really bad, but there was nothing to be done. That’s how it is sometimes; even though a professional tries to save it until the end, the stone was on the road, and nothing could be done.”
Toyota was on course for a one-two finish on home soil and a significant lead in the manufacturers’ championship. However, Rovanperä’s retirement and the strong performances of Esapekka Lappi and Thierry Neuville on Sunday meant that Hyundai now leads the manufacturers’ standings by 20 points.
“Sahloinen-Moksi was quite harsh on us, especially in terms of the manufacturers’ standings. Elfyn went off at the start when he started to slide in the ruts. That was the first corner, and then Kalle went off in the second. I only heard at the stage finish that it was Kalle. It was quite a blow. As I’ve said, rallying is honest but harsh,” Latvala emphasized.
“Sometimes it takes a lot to win a home race. It took Juha Kankkunen a long time as well; he started in 1979 and won only in 1991. Sometimes it really takes a lot to win a home race.”
Latvala admitted that Hyundai now has a strong upper hand with only four WRC rallies left.
“We were one point behind when we came here. We had the chance to be many points ahead. Now we are 20 points behind. It’s tough to catch up. It will require a significant failure from Hyundai with this scoring system. Our chances are getting quite tight,” Latvala admitted.
“Now we also need some luck to win. We obviously have to try until the end. This was quite a hard blow for us.”
The new points system in the WRC does not accommodate zero-point races very well. Toyota experienced two of them in Finland, rendering all the work done in previous days meaningless.
“This was the worst scenario, with two cars retiring on the last day. A total catastrophe would be if three cars retired, but that hardly ever happens. For the same to happen to Hyundai, I don’t know. They can now drive sensibly, as there are not many races left in the season,” Latvala concluded.
