Latvala received exciting news from the FIA when the World Motorsport Council announced decisions regarding the 2025 season. His excitement stemmed from changes to the eligible time frame for cars in the European Historic Rally Championship.
From now on, the Historic European Rally Championship will welcome cars from 1991-2000. This means Latvala can participate in the championship with a “brand new” Toyota Celica GT-Four ST185.
“It was a great change. Now we can include cars from those years. I’ve been building a Celica ST185 myself, which is essentially brand new. I’ve driven a similar model in the Finnish Championship events, but now we’ve built a new car specifically suited for tarmac events,” Latvala told RallyJournal.com, referring to the traditionally tarmac-heavy calendar of the European Championship.
“It’s similar to the one Juha Kankkunen drove in 1993. We’ll have to wait a little longer for the technical regulations to see, for example, the restrictor rules and how the classes will be divided.”
This change didn’t just excite Latvala but also thrilled many rally enthusiasts. The decision means that Historic class events can now also feature WRC cars. The WRC era began in 1997, introducing cars such as the Toyota Corolla WRC, Subaru Impreza WRC, Ford Focus WRC, and Peugeot 206 WRC.
“The best part is that now we can bring the top cars from the 1990s back into these events. They’re returning to the rally world after being out of the limelight for a long time. Now they’ll finally get the recognition they deserve,” Latvala enthused.
Latvala has previously mentioned his intentions to race more himself next year. The Finnish driver eagerly awaits further decisions from the council.
“Let’s see what the specific regulations actually are. They can’t put the WRC cars of that era in the same class as the early 1990s cars. The restrictor rules, for example, have changed over time,” Latvala mused.
“But we’re on the verge of something big. Who knows, I might even need to dig out my old Corolla WRC,” Latvala added with a grin.
