Latvala, who last took rallying seriously five years ago, finished second in the WRC2 class. He couldn’t match the pace of Oliver Solberg, who was driving a Skoda, but that is entirely understandable. Solberg is the hottest name in his class and won as expected in Finland.
Latvala’s performance was still impressive. The Toyota boss, who turns 40 next year, had only managed to test Toyota’s Rally2 car for about 150 kilometres before the competition.
Latvala also competed in Finland last year, but at that time, he was driving a Rally1 car. Co-driver Juho Hänninen made a significant observation about Latvala this year.
“This Rally2 car suits Jari-Matti better than the Rally1 car. He can drive this car closer to the limit, and it was much easier for him,” Hänninen said.
Hänninen mentioned that Latvala was also more relaxed this time compared to last year.
“With the Rally1 car, he was more troubled. Now we had more to compete for both in front and behind, so in that sense, this was more enjoyable,” Hänninen explained.
Latvala’s good pace did not surprise Hänninen.
“We knew we could easily make it into the top three. Against Oliver, we obviously had no chance, as we still don’t even know how much reserve that guy has. Looking at the gaps ahead and behind, this was our place,” Hänninen stated.
