Latvala continues to officially serve as team principal of Toyota’s WRC team competing in the World Rally Championship, but once again this year he will miss the majority of WRC rounds due to his own driving commitments.
Latvala will begin his driving season as early as next weekend at the Tuuri Historic Rally, where the pace notes will be read by Tomiya Maekawa. The Japanese co-driver is part of Toyota’s WRC team development programme.
Latvala’s main objectives are once again focused on the European Historic Rally Championship. Last year, he claimed the series title in his Toyota Celica, and now he is aiming for a second European crown.
The Finnish veteran will have to rely on the services of several co-drivers over the course of the season. Janni Hussi will again read the notes for Latvala this year, but she will not be able to attend all European Championship rounds. Hussi also works in the gravel crew for Toyota WRC driver Takamoto Katsuta at the asphalt events in the WRC, some of which clash with historic rallies.
In addition, Hussi will also be seen alongside Teemu Suninen in a few WRC events this year.
“Janni has said that she will be with Teemu Suninen. But she has also promised me that she’ll be able to sit alongside me in a few rallies as well. At the moment, it looks like there will be three or four events that don’t overlap,” Latvala told RallyJournal.com.
“In some rallies, I’ll probably have to rely on Topi Luhtinen. I’ve also been in contact with Tuukka Shemeikka,” Latvala added.
Both Luhtinen and Shemeikka also sat alongside Latvala in his Celica during last season’s European Championship campaign. Latvala and Shemeikka celebrated a rally win in the Czech Republic early in the season, while Latvala secured victory with Luhtinen in Portugal at the end of the year.
Both Luhtinen and Shemeikka also have relatively busy calendars this season. Luhtinen began working with Tuukka Kauppinen at the Arctic Lapland Rally and also reads the pace notes for Seth Quintero in the American Rally Association series. Shemeikka, meanwhile, works among others as the co-driver for Jonne Halttunen in Finland’s domestic F-Cup rally series.
“I’ll have to juggle different co-drivers this season. Juho Hänninen might also be part of the picture. It’s shaping up to be a year where I need to use several different co-drivers in order to be able to compete,” Latvala laughed.
