While continuing his role as team principal of Toyota’s WRC team, Latvala will once again combine his management duties with competing as a driver this season. The Finnish veteran is again contesting the European Historic Rally Championship, where he is the defending champion. In addition, he will also be seen in smaller national rallies.
Next weekend, Latvala will compete on home roads at the historic rally held in Tuuri, Finland. This time, he will have a completely new co-driver sitting alongside him.
Reading the pace notes for Latvala will be Japanese co-driver Tomiya Maekawa. The 33-year-old Maekawa is part of Toyota’s WRC Challenge Program – in fact, he is the only co-driver selected for the development scheme.
Maekawa began his co-driver training in central Finland a year ago. Since then, he has been calling the notes for Jarkko Nikara, including in the Finnish Rally Championship, and last season the pair secured the SM3 class title together. This year, Maekawa and Nikara are competing in the SM2 category.
The cooperation between Maekawa and Latvala will be limited to the Tuuri Historic Rally. In the other events this season, Latvala will rely on Finnish co-drivers, such as Janni Hussi.
Latvala has not had a foreign co-driver alongside him in an official competition for many years. Early in his career, during the 2002 and 2003 seasons, he worked with two British co-drivers, Steve Harris and Carl Williamson, but in the summer of 2003 he began a longer-term partnership with Miikka Anttila.
After the Tuuri Historic Rally, Latvala will head to Umeå, where he will carry out his duties as Toyota team principal during Rally Sweden. After that, Latvala will take a longer break from his team principal role, as the European Historic Rally Championship season gets under way in Spain in March.
Juha Kankkunen will stand in for Latvala as team principal at those WRC events that Latvala misses due to his driving commitments.
