Jari-Matti Latvala cursed a silly mistake – “I took the corner like with the old Celica”

Latvala spun and briefly went off the road into a ditch, losing over 20 seconds. He is now in second place in the WRC2 class after Saturday’s stages, trailing the class leader Oliver Solberg by 47.6 seconds.

“The morning was excellent, and we caught up with Oliver. We got within 18 seconds, but I have to admit that his pace is so high that I knew we wouldn’t catch him by driving alone,” Latvala conceded.

“In the afternoon, it started to rain quite a bit, so I calmed my driving down. I tried to be careful not to damage the tyres and avoid any excessive risks. Ouninpohja was already dry, and I got into a better rhythm, but then I made a stupid mistake.”

In recent years, Latvala has mostly driven a historic-class Toyota Celica. His instincts kicked in, but the newer generation GR Yaris Rally2 did not respond to steering inputs the same way as the older car.

“The mistake happened during downhill braking. The braking was fine, but then I took a corner as I would with the old Celica and accelerated. It didn’t work, and the rear end came loose. I thought it was going to get out of hand, so I lifted off the throttle and let it spin into the ditch,” Latvala explained.

“Fortunately, there was nothing in the ditch, so we got away with just a scare. Still, it was very frustrating.”

On Sunday, Latvala needs to focus on securing his second place, as there is also a significant gap behind him. Lauri Joona, in third place, is more than half a minute behind.

“We are in a position where there isn’t much real competition anymore. We just have to try to drive sensibly tomorrow. Second place would be an excellent result, as our goal was to finish in the top five. Juho (co-driver Hänninen) said before the rally that if we finished third, it would be a great result, and anything above that is a bonus,” Latvala summarised.

Solberg has a relatively easy task ahead to secure his second consecutive class victory in the WRC. The gap is substantial enough to allow for some caution.

“It’s been really fun, challenging, but fun. The second run of Ouninpohja was the best stage I’ve ever driven in my career. Having driven the stage once, the second run was easier,” Solberg said.

“I had a really good time in the car today. I just drove at my own pace. Now we just need to control the lead tomorrow.”

Rally2 class standings after SS16/20 in Rally Finland:

*Not competing WRC2 class points.