Latvala absolutely dominated Belgium’s iconic asphalt rally in his Toyota Celica alongside co-driver Janni Hussi. The pair set a string of fastest times and had a lead of one and a half minutes going into the final three special stages.
But then Latvala’s Celica gave up the ghost.
“In the end, the cylinder head gasket failed. We had a new cylinder head and a new head gasket,” Latvala explained to RallyJournal.com.
“I can’t yet say why it failed – perhaps there was some manufacturing defect. But we’ll only know for sure once the head is removed.”
Before retiring, Latvala was enjoying the drive in his Celica on the Belgian asphalt stages.
“The rally went really well otherwise. The car felt absolutely amazing. We did an 80-kilometre test with it on Tuesday, and it was in great shape,” Latvala said.
“It was a great car to drive in every respect, but the schedule was really tight. It felt like I was under constant pressure because the timetable was so tight,” Latvala laughed.
Latvala has now suffered retirements in two consecutive rounds of the Historic European Championship. In the Antibes Rally in May, the Celica was struck by an electrical fault.
Latvala won the first two rounds of the season in dominant fashion. He came out on top in Spain in March and celebrated victory in the Czech Republic in April.
Latvala is still the team principal of Toyota, which competes in the World Rally Championship, but this year he has only fulfilled the role at three WRC rounds. At this weekend’s Acropolis Rally in Greece, Juha Kankkunen is once again standing in for Latvala.
