Latvala turned 40 this Thursday. In an interview with Rallyjournal.com, he revealed that he won’t have time just yet to throw a major birthday party, but there might be time for it later on.
The Historic Rally European Championship and his duties as Toyota team principal are keeping Latvala’s schedule busy again this year, but he hopes to celebrate his 40th milestone later this summer at Rally Finland.
Since retiring from his full-time driving career, Latvala has continued to compete in rallies and has been seen many times on the starting line at Rally Finland. He hopes that will be the case again this coming summer. Should Latvala take the start line in Jyväskylä, it would mark a record-breaking 20th time on the gravel roads of Central Finland.
“That would be the most meaningful celebration of all,” Latvala confirmed to RallyJournal.
“I’ve now reached the age of 40 and I’d really love to drive the Jyväskylä rally this year, because – as you mentioned – it would be my twentieth start,” Latvala continued.
During his career, Latvala claimed an impressive 18 WRC victories and reached the podium 67 times. His list of achievements is long, but taking the record at Rally Finland would mean a great deal to the passionate rally driver.
“If you manage to start in the same event 20 times over your career, that would of course be a kind of achievement in itself. It would be nice to celebrate that there,” Latvala laughed.
Latvala enjoyed strong success at Rally Finland already during his active career. He won the Jyväskylä WRC round three times, making him one of the most successful drivers in the event’s history. The most Rally Finland wins belong to Hannu Mikkola and Marcus Grönholm, who both claimed victory in the iconic event seven times during their careers.
Rally Finland will take place this year as usual at the turn of July and August, from 31 July to 3 August.
