Latvala gets up to speed in snow before Rally Sweden

Jari-Matti Latvala took part in his local Autopirtti Rally in Finland to get up to speed in the snow ahead of Rally Sweden which hosts the second round of the 2018 World Rally Championship.

The Toyota driver produced a solid start to his 2018 WRC campaign with third place at Rallye Monte-Carlo behind winner Sebastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford) and Toyota team-mate Ott Tanak.

With Latvala returning to an event which has given him significant success, having claimed his first WRC rally win back in 2008 plus Toyota’s first comeback WRC win 12 months ago, the Finnish driver is eager to create further history at Rally Sweden.

Latvala, a four-time Rally Sweden winner in all, has been refamiliarising himself with snow running by taking part in the historic class of Autopirtti Rally in his Toyota Celia GT-4 (ST165) alongside former Toyota team-mate Juho Hanninen but was forced out on SS3 due to a broken wheel bearing.

“I’m took part in a local rally on snow in Finland with Juho Hänninen in my historic Toyota Celica, so this is a lot of fun and the perfect way to prepare [for Rally Sweden],” Latvala said. “Sweden is one of my favourite rallies and actually the place where I took my first WRC victory 10 years ago – although it really doesn’t feel like so long ago.

“Compared to last year I think we have a better car: we concentrated on improving it on the slower and more technical sections during our test, and we definitely made a step forward in this area.

“Having said that, the competition is even tougher this year: within our own team as well. It’s going to be a really nice challenge in proper winter conditions and that of course helps me raise my own game.”