The resolution of the tarmac event came on the final day when the rally leaders, Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans, both made driving errors on the same special stage. Thus, lurking just behind the top duo, Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier managed to climb to the top and win the rally.
Toyota team principal Latvala was watching this particular stage.
“I was on the stage taking times with my watch. Then Elfyn comes, and he’s about 18 seconds slower than the fastest time. And I was thinking, ‘This is not good.’ But then Thierry comes, and he’s 17 or 18 seconds down as well — but even more parts were coming loose from his car. This doesn’t happen very often,” Latvala recounted.
During his own driving career, Latvala had several similar battles for victory. The Croatian fight reminded the Finnish driver of a close contest from 14 years ago.
“That reminded me of Rally New Zealand back in 2010 when we were heading into the last stage. Sebastien Ogier and Sebastien Loeb went off, and I managed to win the rally, even though I wasn’t that fast. Petter Solberg also went off on the same stage. So, this time in Croatia, Sebastien Ogier won the rally with the same tactics that I used back in 2010,” Latvala chuckled.
Indeed, the 2010 Rally New Zealand offered tremendous drama right up to the last special stage. Before the final stage, Ogier was leading the rally, but Latvala, Solberg, and Loeb were not far behind before the 30-kilometre Whaanga Coast special stage. Ultimately, Latvala took the victory by a margin of 2.4 seconds over Ogier.
According to Ogier, Latvala has reminded him more than once of the outcome of that rally.
“Jari-Matti is an encyclopedia of rally. He remembers every single event, every statistic, and I’m sure he liked that one because obviously, he came out as the winner,” Ogier said.
At the same time, Ogier decided to give a little back to Latvala.
“He forgot to mention that he wasn’t adopting a very cautious strategy on that stage. I think he was pushing like hell, but had a massive moment and then he just got scared, and it paid off in the end,” Ogier retorted with a laugh.
The Frenchman’s jab didn’t hit home, as Latvala struck back yet again.
“Actually, I must correct you. In 2008, on the same stage, I went off and damaged the car in a similar fight. So, I decided that in 2010, I wouldn’t make the same mistake,” Latvala smiled.
Latvala’s memory is infallible. In the 2008 Rally New Zealand, he was in the fight for victory with Mikko Hirvonen, Dani Sordo, and Sebastien Loeb before the last two special stages. At that time, the monster Whaanga Coast stage was second to last, where Latvala had gone off and retired from second place.
