Jari-Matti Latvala got his fourth victory in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship on Sunday. The previous three came in 2010, 2014 and 2015.
This time the victory came for the first time as a team manager, after his other victories he has taken by driving.
“There are a lot of the same but also differences in profits. While driving, the driver does the work and gets a feel for the sight of the crowd on the route. The audience could not enter the service park now, so the team manager did not have the same atmosphere, ”says Latvala.
Due to the pandemic, the service areas of the stables have been kept closed in all World Rally Championship rallies. The same regulation of the International Automobile Federation is valid until the end of the year.
“The regulations could be relaxed a bit already. It feels pointless for drivers to have to comment on special tests at the finish with their faces on their faces, ”Latvala ponders.
Latvalan led by Toyota was for the fourth time in a row the fastest car on the gravel roads of Central Finland, after the Welsh Elfyn Evans convincingly drove his map reader Scott Martinin with.
Tommi Mäkinen During this time, Toyota won the World Rally Championship 2017–2019, so Latvala still has enough to reach for its predecessor’s readings. While driving, Mäkinen won five times in Jyväskylä in 1994–1998.
Evans made his car run differently than the other drivers in the stable Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä. Esapekka Lapland drove fourth, but he was a private driver and did not drive the manufacturers ’World Championship points to the stable.
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“In Jyväskylä, you have to drive from hay to hay, take the car along the edge of the ditch.”
At no point did Ogier get up to speed, but brought the car to the finish line with the experience of the fifth seven-time world champion.
The Frenchman was also Fifth in the 2016, 2018 and 2019 rallies. His last prize place in Jyväskylä was second place in 2015.
“Ogier thought about the championship and drove a little more cautiously. He himself was frustrated with his driving. In Jyväskylä, you have to drive from hay to hay, take the car along the edge of the ditch, ”Latvala says.
The team could have lifted Ogier past Lapland to fourth for better World Cup points by order. However, that did not happen.
“[Toyotan pääjohtaja Akio] Toyoda has himself said that he does not like stable regulations, it is based on that. They are avoided until the last. You can only go for it if the brand championship should be secured with a certain ranking. That is an extreme case, ”says Latvala.
In practice, that means Evans and Ogier will be allowed to compete against each other for the World Riders Championship in the last two World Rally Championships in Spain and Italy.
Ogier’s lead to Evans is 24 points (190-166). At the manufacturers ’World Cup points, Toyota’s lead is 60 points.
Rovanperä drove out, and his car underwent a major overhaul so he could continue the race on Sunday. However, it didn’t become anything when Rovanperä injured his back during the run-out.
Magnetic resonance imaging showed no fractures in the back.
“There was a burst in my back muscles when the car hit a pile of sand. Kalle should be in the car on Friday, so I wonder if his back is going to turn, ”Latvala said.
In the rally, Rovanperä did not reach the same level as when he won in Estonia in July and in Greece in September.
“Kalle admitted that the tests went a little wrong. It doesn’t usually result in good if you start adjusting the car during the race. It’s a bad tick, ”Latvala says.
“In the case of Kalle, there was too much reliance on being able to drive a similar car as in the summer in Estonia. It became an error. Evans, on the other hand, managed to finish. ”
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Evans made his car run differently than the other drivers in the stable.
Elfyn Evans actually flew to victory in the last special stage of the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship in Ruuhimäki.
As before as a driver, Latvala understood Rovanperä’s driving error and feelings well.
“Everyone gets mistakes, they are part of the nature of the species. Expectations were perhaps too high. Kalle drove a WRC car in Jyväskylä for the first time. Realistically, there was too little experience. ”
As a team manager, Latvala wants to be encouraging and support its drivers.
“Roaring and shouting doesn’t help. Drivers need to have confidence in what the team thinks when they make a mistake. The situation can be reviewed constructively. ”
“I have personally experienced different models of this throughout my career. I want to avoid confusing situations. The driver should not think about what can and cannot be done during the race, ”says Latvala.
Toyota’s driver selections for next season have not yet been officially announced. Ogier drives 4-5 asphalt rallies in a stable car. In other World Rally Championships this season, Toyota’s third car will probably be driven by Lapland.
“That’s what I’ve suggested to the factory management in Japan.”
Latvala’s own wash as team manager will continue next year. In addition, the management team includes a technical director Tom Fowler, sports executive Kaj Lindström and the Administrative Director Yuichiro Haruna.
Next From the beginning of the season, all the functions of Toyota’s rally stable will be concentrated in Jyväskylä, Jyskää.
This year, the race cars have been in Tallinn, where the mechanics in charge of maintenance move to Jyväskylä.
“Being under the same roof makes communication easier.”
There are also test sites nearby where Toyota can tune the winning car for the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship next summer. It would already be the fifth victory in a row for the same brand.
If Toyota’s season ends with the World Championships for Drivers and Manufacturers, a new resident could enter the Latvala car collection in Tuuri: a WRC car leaving the rally, the Toyota Yaris.
“That’s what I’ve been dreaming of getting Yaris in my own garage. First you have to win the championship and then let’s see what the situation is. Two championships would be in search. ”
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