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Latvala wins Rally GB


Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala won the Wales Rally GB on Sunday, ending reigning champion Sebastien Loeb’s run of five-straight victories in the World Rally Championship.

Latvala won by 27.8 seconds, his first taste of victory since February in an otherwise disappointing season and the first win for his Ford team since Portugal in April.
Citroen’s Loeb took second place by just 0.9 seconds from Latvala’s teammate Petter Solberg, with Mads Ostberg fourth.

The result increases Loeb’s championship lead over teammate Mikko Hirvonen and leaves the Frenchman in a near-impregnable position with three rallies remaining.

Hirvonen was fifth but took the three bonus points for being fastest on the Power Stage. Russian driver Evgeny Novikov came in sixth, working with replacement co-driver Ilka Minor because of an injury to his regular co-driver.

Wales Rally GB: Overall standings

1. Jari-Matti Latvala    Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC     3hours 03mins 40.3secs M
2. Sebastien Loeb    Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC     +00mins 27.8secs M
3. Petter Solberg    Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC     +00mins 28.7secs M
4. Mads Ostberg    Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC     +01mins 10.6secs M
5. Mikko Hirvonen    Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC     +01mins 29.5secs M
6. Evgeny Novikov    M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC    +03mins 37.0secs M
7. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior WRT DS3 WRC     +04mins 11.9secs M
8. Matthew Wilson    M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC    +06mins 00.4secs
9. Martin Prokop    Ford Fiesta RS WRC +06mins 58.9secs
10. Nasser Al-Attiyah    Qatar WRT Citroen DS3 WRC     +09mins 32.1secsM

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Latvala wins Rally Sweden


Jari-Matti Latvala has taken his second Swedish triumph, his sixth career WRC victory.

After an early day 2 scrap with former team-mate Mikko Hirvonen, and despite a puncture on SS22, Latvala controlled from the front on day 3 to defeat Hirvonen by 16.6 seconds. In addition to picking up his first 25 points of the season, Latvala also picked up one point for third place in the Power Stage, which was won by Sébastien Loeb with Peter Solberg taking two points for second best time.

No one argue that this win was a long time coming for Latvala who has matured into a proper championship contender. Ford’s lead driver scored his first WRC victory in Sweden in 2008 and today he returns to the top step of the podium in the gorgeous white winter land.  "I won this rally four years ago and now I have won it again” said an ecstatic Latvala. “I am really happy for the team and Petter did a very good job. We still have a lot of work to do, but we want to fight with Citroen this season. It is really special to win here, four years after I won my first rally here. This is the first rally I have won two times. We had a lot of pressure following Monte-Carlo and this takes all that pressure off. I think we are going to really challenge Citroen, because we are working so hard," concluded the happy Finn.

Mads Ostberg made the most of a puncture from Petter Solberg as well as putting in a spirited drive on Sunday to complete the podium, his second such performance two-years running in Sweden after he took second in 2011. Solberg had to settle for fourth place ahead of Evgeny Novikov, who takes his second top five result of the season.   

Sébastien Loeb had a long weekend, including time lost with spin, getting caught in a snow bank and punctures, and had to push hard on Sunday to overtake Henning Solberg for sixth place. But he retains his lead in the championship thanks to his best time on the Power Stage. Patrik Sandell was the only Mini to finish in the points, after the engine in Dani Sordo’s JCW WRC gave out on day one. The Sweden gave his countryman something to cheer for with an eighth place showing. Martin Prokop scored points for a second consecutive round in taking ninth, while Eyvind Brynildsen scored a world championship point in his maiden WRC outing.

POWER STAGE
1 Loeb 3pts
2 P. Solberg 2pts
3 Latvala 1pt

TOP TEN
1 Latvala
2 Hirvonen +16.6s
3 Ostberg +38.8s
4 P. Solberg +1:14.3s
5 Novikov +2:41.4s
6 Loeb +2:55.0s
7 H. Solberg +3:49.5s
8 Sandell+5:08.9s
9 Prokop +5:30.0s
10 Brynildsen +6:27.1s

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP
1Loeb 39 points
2 Hirvonen 32
3 P. Solberg 29
4 Latvala 26
5 Novikov 21
6 Sordo 18
7 Ostberg 15
8 Delecour 8
9 Campana 6
= H. Solberg 6 

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Latvala and Solberg with Ford in 2012

Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg will contest the World Rally Championship for the Ford factory team in 2012. Ford has extended its association with M-Sport in the WRC for a further two years.
Ford has confirmed that its presence in rallying will continue for two more years in association with Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport. It is almost certain that Abu Dhabi will no longer be a partner of the team, however.

The 2012 world championship will see two Ford Fiesta RS WRCs contest the series in the hands of Finn Jari-Matti Latvala and Norway’s Petter Solberg. The latter got his first drive in the car this morning in France’s Ardèche Mountains.
“The WRC is motorsport’s toughest competition for production-based cars,” says Gerard Quinn, Ford Europe’s Manager Motorsport. “Through WRC, we can convey the attributes of our road vehicles and send a clear message to our customers and fans about Ford’s passion and expertise.
“We feel that the timing for our announcement is right.  We had to be confident about the stability of the championship and to ensure it continues to provide great value and increased exposure globally.  We discussed it with our stakeholders and after receiving such assurances we look forward to focusing on competition once again.
“We have a great team with M-Sport and its leader, Malcolm Wilson. And in Jari-Matti Latvala we have one of motorsport’s rising stars. We believe he will flourish in his new role as Ford’s team leader. Petter Solberg will bring real added value to the squad thanks to his record which includes a world title and 13 world class wins.”

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Jari-Matti Latvala takes Wales Rally GB win


Jari-Matti Latvala battled all weekend to take his 5th career WRC triumph.

When Mikko Hirvonen retired from the final round of the season on day 2, Ford team mate Latvala was free to race Sébastien Loeb for the win. The Finn was on top form and defeated the eight-time world champion on merit. The drama came to an end when Loeb was involved in a road accident with a Spanish spectator who panicked when he came face to face with the Frenchman and turned the wrong direction, damaging the Citroen DS3 WRC beyond repair.

After playing ideal team mate to Hirvonen on the final rounds of the year, Latvala, fourth in points, but clearly the stronger of the Ford duo this season picked up his first victory since Sardinia in 2009.  “This is a great feeling, it has been a long time since I won a rally”, said an overjoyed Latvala. “It has been a very difficult season and it is great to win the last round of the year. We are going to go for the title next year, in a Ford!”.

Mads Ostberg held his ailing Focus RS WRC together to come runner-up in a spirited drive that does his future plenty of good. The promising Norwegian bookend his year with a second place in the opener in Sweden and of course here in Wales in the finale. The only real battle on Sunday was between Kris Meeke and Henning Solberg for the final spot on the podium with the Norwegian getting nod, his first top three result since Poland 2009.

Matthew Wilson ran a discreet but steady rally on his home event to end the year with a top five result. Following Wilson was the mightily impressive Estonian, Ott Tanak on the DMACK shod Ford. Evgeny Novikov nursed his Ford home and managed to get past Dennis Kuipers late in the running for seventh place. American internet sensation brought his season to a conclusion with a clean run and ninth place ahead of Armindo Araujo in a privateer Mini JCW.

TOP TEN FINAL
1 Latvala
2 Ostberg+3:42.9s
3 H. Solberg+7:05.1s
4 Meeke +7:12.3s
5 Wilson+8:57.3s
6 Tanak+9:27.1s
7 Novikov+9:47.7s
8 Kuipers+10:12.7s
9 Block+16:01.2s
10 Araujo+17:01.6s

POWER STAGE
1 Ogier 3pts
2 Sordo 1
3 Latvala 1

FIA DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Loeb 222 points
2 Hirvonen 214
3 Ogier 196
4 Latvala 172
5 P. Solberg 110
6 Ostberg 88
7 Wilson 63
8 Sordo 59
9 H. Solberg 56
10 Raikkonen 34

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