Rally | Team manager Jari-Matti Latvala jumps behind the wheel in the World Rally Championship in Jyväskylä – admitted the harsh fact

Jyväskylä

Toyota’s team manager Jari-Matti Latvala39, last year jubilantly finished fifth in the Finnish World Rally Championship in a Toyota Rally1 car.

This year, Latvala will welcome the gigantic Japanese manufacturer to the route with Rally2 rides.

Latvala and Toyota have justified the team boss’s competition with the fact that it is good for Latvala to get to know the car model that the brand sells to its rally customers even more deeply.

“In a competition situation, I get to know the car even better and I can participate even better in the car’s development work,” said Latvala.

Latvala is gassing up in “Jyskälä” in a race category one step lower than the main class. He has praised the level of drivers in the Rally2 class and mentioned that he is aiming for the top five in this racing class.

“Undeniably, there is a slight tingle. When you looked at the speed the Rally2 drivers were driving at the World Rally Championship in Latvia, of course that speed makes you think,” Latvala stated.

“It’s not scary, but you have to know how to prepare for the fact that if your pace isn’t terribly good and you won’t make it. You have to prepare mentally for that.”

Latvala has named the Rally2 class as its toughest competitors Oliver Solbergin, Mikko Heikkilä, Roope Korhonen and Lauri Joonan.

The Rally1 car that Latvala drove in last year’s World Rally Championship in Finland momentarily produces more than 500 horsepower. About 290 horsepower have been announced for Rally2 drivers.

“The starting point is that it has always been easier for me to drive a car with a lot of power. In Rally2, we now go to a car that doesn’t have that much power – for me, it’s one that needs to be driven very carefully.”

“With a Rally2 car, you can’t very easily fix and save situations with force, that’s kind of not-so-normal for me,” Latvala said.

Latvala the former top driver of the MM factory teams, 43 years old, sits next to him as the second driver Juho Hänninen.

The cooperation between Hänninen and Latvala, who have a sense of humor, worked perfectly in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship last year.

“I immediately asked Juho to be the second driver when it was confirmed that I would get a Rally2 car to drive to Jyväskylä. Juho replied that there are other karts available there. I then replied that there is no such karttur who will keep me on the road!”

“Juho said it was a good move,” Latvala laughed.

Jari-Matti Latvala (right) and Juho Hänninen compete together again. Picture: Valtteri Vainio / Newspaper photo

Latvala won a total of 18 World Championship races during his active driving career. His driving career at the top level faded after the 2019 season.