Three times is the charm, the saying goes. As far as Volkswagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala is concerned, that certainly was the case at Rally Sweden as he won the only fully-snow event of the World Rally Championship for the third time in his career.
For third placed Mads Ostberg – his fourth consecutive podium in Sweden –however, there were just three near misses that could have so easily seen him retire from the rally.
The Citroen driver has been charged with checking the march of the mighty VW Polo WRC gang of defending world champion Sebastien Ogier, Latvala and 24-year-old hotshot Andreas Mikklesen.
CLOSE SHAVES
The task was made a little challenging due to incidents that first saw former F1 star (and brief leader at Monte Carlo) Robert Kubica nearly cause a crash due to hitting a snow bank and slowing down in front of Ostberg.
And that happened not once, but twice, as Kubica’s trial by fire at rallying’s top level continued.
The third such incident was a close shave with Chris Meeke. A frustrated and bemused Ostberg finally made it to the finish of the rally to claim third behind Latvala and Mikkelsen.
The win for Latvala was particularly sweet as it was at the venue where he picked up his first ever career victory six years ago behind the wheel of a Ford Focus.
Latvala’s visually exciting and no-holds-barred driving style has made him a firm favourite among many WRC supporters who are still searching for an heir apparent to Colin McRae; the driver who can arguably be credited with taking rallying’s popularity to the stratosphere back in the mid and late 1990s.
Whether Latvala is the driver to do it remains to be seen but the win definitely looks good on paper.
Whereas Ogier hit a snow bank on the second day to drop to 20th on the second day of the rally, Latvala – the man you would expect to crash rather than the smoother Frenchman – kept consolidating his lead and pulling away at the head of the rally.
TURNING THE CORNER?
Predicting or speculating ‘turning points’ in a driver’s career is almost akin to the dreaded ‘commentators curse’ on televised sports.
You just don’t do it unless you are absolutely sure. And with Latvala, there just never is any knowing for sure.
Ogier has made it very clear that he will continue in the same vein as his compatriot – now set to race in the World Touring Car Championship – Sebastien Loeb.
Fast, smooth, frightfully consistent and leaving as little to chance as possible.
Latvala, who is now 28 and on equal footing in terms of machinery will need to prove that he is more than a wild and crazy Finn, and rather a ‘Flying Finn’, who can take the fight to Ogier.
Mainly because it seems like the only threat to Ogier’s supremacy will only come from a driver in another VW Polo WRC
THE REST OF THEM
Hyundai doesn’t yet seem to be up to the task of offering serious competition to the German squad.
For the second straight event, both i20 WRC machines retired after crashes forced both Thierry Neuville and JuhoHanninen out of the running.
The Korean marque is, however, expecting some help for Rally Mexico.
Former Subaru World Rally Team driver Chris Atkinson is set to suit up and offer his enormous experience to further advance Hyundai’s title prospects while VW follows the self-imposed development freeze it agreed to.
Indian motorsport fans would also know of Atkinson as the man who beat teammate Gaurav Gill to the 2012 Asia Pacific Rally Championship when the two were teammates driving Super 2000-spec Skoda Fabias for Team MRF.
WRC fans will remember him as a regular podium finisher with Subaru while the Japanese marque started to fall behind the likes of Citroen and Ford before exiting the sport and leaving Atkinson without a drive.
Back with a factory team hungry for success, maybe we will get to see yet more heroics out of the stockbroker turned motorsport star.
Write your Comment