Latvala Motorsport
Contests 2006 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007World Championship ralliesRally of Wales, Great Britain 1-3.12.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila I was pretty exited before the rally because the last three races in Stobart's car had failed. I had driven off the road in all of them. My racing car was now a -06 Ford which definitely would be a very competitive car. This was my fifth time in the Rally of Wales which made it easier for me to start competing in slippery conditions. I decided to drive nothing but my own speed and didn't mind the times of the other drivers. We had a sticky start but my driving got better and better and on Friday evening we were suddenly fourth. On Saturday I wasn't able to drive as smoothly as on Friday and Xavier Pons beat us. He was now fourth and we were fifth. On Sunday we chose the perfect tyres for slippery and muddy roads. I managed to drive very well, Xavier spun and now we were fourth again. I concentrated on keeping this position till the end of the rally, I succeeded and in the finish we celebrated our best position so far. No fastest times, though - yet. Overall 4th Car: Ford Focus WRC -06 Rally New Zealand 11-12.11.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila We rested properly on a two-week holiday and after that came to New Zealand. The rally had moved from Auckland to Hamilton. Right away on stage one I was able to drive the fastest time but on stage two I swung and lost ten valuable seconds. On Friday I tried to drive as fast as possible but I couldn't catch Juho Hanninen who was leading group N. On Saturday morning we managed to take perfect tyres and we drove fine times on slippery stages. In the middle of the day we were leading group N and the rest of the day went without trouble. When we came to the evening service an unpleasant surprise was waiting for us: we had driven 42km/h at the service area and the speed limit there is only 30km/h. The jury had decided to fine us with one minute. On Sunday morning we started as second in group N 56 seconds behind Mirco Baldacci. But he was unlucky and had to retire because of a broken gearbox. We could maintain our lead till the end of the rally although it wasn't easy to drive on slippery roads. The second win in group N was as sweet as the first one. Group N 1st, Overall 8th Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06 Rally Australia 27-29.10.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila I think Australia is the best competition in the world championships series what comes to both the special stages and the organising of the rally. Unfortunately this is the last time Australia is in the series. The race started well and we were able to keep almost the same speed as the leaders although we could not drive any of the fastest times. On Friday evening the last two stages were difficult to drive fast because of the dust and the gap to the leader got quite big. Friday's dramatic turn was when Chris Atkinson's car burst into flames and we had to lend him a fire extinguisher which is why we got two compensated stage times. On Saturday my speed improved on the famous Bannister stages (jumps). In the evening we even managed to drive the fastest time once and now we were second in group N, only 27 seconds behind Ligato who was leading. On Sunday morning I tried to attack but that was a wrong choice. I hit the bank and broke my rear suspension. Luckily we were able to change it after the stage. Ligato had to retire in the next service due to a broken engine. The next two stages I drove as fast as I could having Aki Teiskonen breathing to my neck. Unfortunately he drove off the road and had to retire. I eased my driving and for the first time I was able to win a world championships round in group N. We were 6th overall. Group N 1st, Overall 6th Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06 Rally Japan 1-3.09.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila Our first time in Japan. The roads were fast and difficult but they suited our car. On Friday I drove carefully, avoiding the worst parts. That was a very good idea because on Friday afternoon I was leading group N. In the evening I slowed down a little bit and still kept the lead. Back to the roads on Saturday morning, even more carefully than the day before. The racing started to feel so good that I raised my speed. On Saturday evening my lead was one minute ten second. On Sunday all that was needed was to drive sensibly, avoiding faults and unnecessary risks. Everything seemed perfect until on the third last stage the rod broke and I lost the control of the car. We slid into a ditch and the car fell; that was the end of Rally Japan. It was a huge disappointment for us as well as for the team. There is no such way the breaking of a rod could be avoided beforehand. But once again something good came out of the bad: we got a lot of attention and new fans in Japan. retirement Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06 Neste Oil Rally Finland 17.-20.08.2006Co-driver: Asko Sairanen The preparations for Neste Oil Rally 2006 went well. We could update the notes from the 2005 Neste Rally rather easily. Reading numbered notes was a bit confusing beforehand and even in the recce. On the first day we hit the stone Jan Kopecky's car had dug up. This happened on the test special stage in Laajavuori. Our service experts managed to fix the crack in the oil bottom before the stage of Killeri. The first stage on day two was Lankamaa. We spanned there in high speed. Luckily there was large enough a yard of a farm house and we didn't lose much time in our spin. Special stages two and three, Laukaa and Ruuhimäki, went as planned. Last year we retired at Vellipohja which put some pressure on us this year, but we managed well. Mökkiperä didn't have jumps at the beginning like last year so it was easier but the right bend at the end was very slippery. The same stages were driven twice and we had no worries. We had driven like a bus, on time from one bus stop to another. Killeri, which we drove perfectly, was the last stage of day one. Our position was 14th overall. Day two: the special stage of Vaheri ended a bit embarrassingly for us, we kept on driving after the finish. My co-driver hadn't noticed the difference between the special stages in Vaheri and Himos so our notes weren't right. Our time came out alright but guess just how much the rally radio joked about our "go off"! Ouninpohja West and East were controlled driving which got us higher in overall positions. We were already number ten. After Urria it was Ouninpohja West and East again and our rear right tire got totally damaged because there was a crack in the rim. The tire even got into flames and we had to stop to put the fire out. That cost us several minutes. And that was not all, the next stage we had to drive very slowly (not race at all) because of all the damage caused by the fire. Our position was now 23rd. Our tremendous service personnel were able to fix the car again and we drove two good rally days as the first racing car on each stage. We finished 17th overall. Many, many thanks for our sponsors, for our brilliant service team and for all of Jari-Matti's fans from Finland and from abroad. 17th Car: Toyota Corolla WRC Rally Germany 11-13.08.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila I had been looking forward to this competition because I like the German Rally. Right away on stage one I was surprised by the slippery road and I hit the railing badly. I had to retire which made me so sad I got tears into my eyes. My car was fixed, though, and I was able to continue the race on Saturday and on Sunday due to the super rally rule. I did the fifth and sixth best times on the stages. retirement Car: Ford Focus WRC 04 Rally Greece 2.-4.6.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila The rally started on Thursday evening with a spectator stage that was driven at the Olympic stadium of Athens. Friday morning, on the first stage, I experienced some extra excitement, when the steering wheel almost came loose due to heavy shaking caused by poor-conditioned roads. We got the steering wheel tightened on the way to the start of the next stage, but it didn't help for long as the problem came back on the second stage. Luckily at the service we were able to fix the problem. When coming to the first service stop I was on the 4th place of the group, nine seconds behind the lead. After that things started to go for the worse as we punctured a tyre on the 6th stage. We had to change it on the stage which caused us to loose two minutes. Our driving was also slowed down by heavy dust. On the following stage I was able to finish second in my group. Saturday morning started with some good stage times, but then the real problems began. At first we broke the backup shocks that had been changed in the service. After that we blew a tyre plus lost our rear brake fluid tube. These problems were accompanied by a minor leak in the fuel tank and by the fact that my suspension was gone and I had to drive with a flat tyre. On Saturday evening we were still on the 5th position in the group because everyone else seemed to be experiencing problems in this tough rally, too. I had to drive with a plastic splint on my hand because my thumb was not fully healed yet after the operation. This was indeed an extra burden on the long stages. Sunday didn't start any better. On the first stage of the day we had a puncture again and on the next stage we got so huge a hole in the fuel tank that the fuel was flowing out in a stream. We were able to get to the service where the options were either to retire or to try and change the fuel tank in 30 minutes plus to get 15 minutes extra of exciding the service time limit. The attempt seemed impossible, but our service team did an excellent job by changing the fuel tank in 43 minutes. We were able to continue the rally despite of the two minutes and ten seconds time penalty of exciding the time limit. On the stage following the service, we caught up with the car ahead of us and had to drive in its dust, dropping to the 6th place. On the second final stage we lost the brake fluid tube again, but were able to get the car fixed in the service. On the last stage I came second in my group. I was 6th of my group and 22nd of the overall competition in the final results of this difficult rally. 6th group, 22nd overall Car: Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06 Corsica Rally 7-9.4.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila I continued the same speed as in Catalunya. We were sixth when we arrived at the first service. Our speed stayed the same but unfortunately Daniel Sordo was quicker than us. He was sixth and we dropped to the seventh place when we arrived at the next service. The first stage went very well on Saturday morning. We lost only 0,5 seconds per kilometre to Loeb who was the fastest on that stage. We made a fatal error on stage six. The microphone of Miikka´s helmet jumped up and I only heard a part of the notes. I was stupid and didn´t understand to slow down. When I heard the rest of the notes I started to brake, but there was sand on the road and the car slid. I tried to get a grip but there were rocks in the inner curve and they hit the steering so hard that I broke my thumb. The car rose on two wheels, I lost control and we hit the trees. My best rally ever ended the same way so many other - not to mention good - drivers have ended theirs - driving off the road. retirement SS6 Ford Focus WRC 04 Catalunya Rally, Spain 24-26.03.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila We had a new car and I didn´t have very much experience in driving a WRC car on tarmac, so we started this rally fairly slowly. I pushed a little bit more on stage two and we were tenth when we arrived at the first service. The speed increased on the third stage and a little bit too much on the fourth. There was sand on the road in one long curve over the bridge. I tried with a higher gear than normally. Our car got under steered and I couldn´t control it anymore. We hit the railing which broke down and dropped into the ravine. Luckily the car stayed on the road. The left suspension was hit very hard but the mechanics were able to repaire it in Friday evening. We got a 15 minute penalty because we didn´t drive all the stages on Friday. Our goal was to make some good stage times on Saturday and Sunday. After a sticky start on Saturday the rest of the rally went well. We drove a few tenth fastest times during the two last days. At best we were fifth on one stage. Our final result was 16th. 16th Ford Focus WRC 04 Mexico Rally 3-5.3.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila The beginning of the rally was like a dream. We led the group N after three special stages. The roads were very bumpy and I slowed down on the fourth stage. I don´t know if it was a correct decision because I drove into a hole on stage five. The left suspension and a tyre broke down. We changed the tyre on the stage and drove 30 kilometres with a broken suspension. We lost five minutes. The car was repaired in the service. We were in the seventh place after the day but the difference in time to the fourth place wasn't very big. That was our next target on Saturday morning. Our intentions were doomed when the front diff broke down on the first stage 2,8 kilometres from the start. We did however try to continue to the next stage but the clutch couldn´t last driving without the front diff. An irritating retirement, points would have been nice to have. 26th overall, 9th in group N Subaru Impreza WRX STI -06 Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo 20-22.01.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila The car felt good in the tests and so our expectations were high. The first three stages were cancelled because of the spectators. We had a lot of trouble in the beginning. A gasket broke in the refuelling and petrol leaked out. That caused our retirement. We continued the driving on Saturday, but the same thing happened again and we retired once more. We continued again on Sunday. The day was excellent, we drove the fastest time in group N on every stage and we were ninth twice in overall. Furthermore we were fifth in group N and got four World Championship points. 42nd in overall, 5th in group N Subaru Impreza WRX STI -06 International ralliesArctic Lapland Rally, Finland 27-28.1.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila Friday 27th of January The rally got a sticky start because changing from the mixture of Alps and coast to snowy Lapland wasn´t so easy after all. Furthermore incipient flu and fever weren´t helping the situation. Yet our speed was improving stage by stage. Our result was third overall and second best points in Finnish Championship. 3rd overall, 2nd in Finnish Championship Saturday 28th of January I started the attack in the morning. It was a successful morning and we achieved two fastest times. But then on stage ten we had too much speed in a tight turn to the left and we drove off the road deep into a snowdrift. And of course no spectators on sight to help us. After shovelling for one hour we got the car out, but the rally was over for us. Retirement SS10 Toyota Corolla WRC National ralliesPrealpi Master Show Rally, Italy 16.12.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila Motoring Club organised an end-of-the-season rally. I got to drive an old Subaru because my -06 car was on its way from New Zealand to Italy. I drove the fastest time on stage one in group N and I was fifth in overall, but after stage two I had to retire due to an engine failure. Juha Kankkunen, a quadruple world champion, won the rally. retirement Subaru Impreza WRX STI spec C -05 Rally Uusikaupunki, Finland 9.9.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila The hard-surface roads in Uusikaupunki are even which makes it hard to get differences in time. On stage one I lost 2, 5 seconds to Sebastian "Basti" Lindholm. I tried harder on the second stage but lost even more. After that I tried to ease my driving up but Basti just kept on increasing his lead. In the service after the fourth stage we changed the transmission which made the car better and we were able to drive the fastest time once, but not even that was enough for us to catch Basti. We did all we could but we finished second, 15, 5 seconds behind the winner. 2nd Toyota Corolla WRC O.K. Auto Rally, Finland 7-8.7.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila It was +30 degrees when we started the 5th rally of the season. The heat was pretty hard for the cars. As early as on the first special stage we had problems with the breaks and we were four seconds slower than the stage winner. The next two stages went well and we were third, one tenth of a second away from the second place. On stage four we started having problems with the hydraulics. The problems lasted all the way to the finish line. It wasn't easy to drive because the locks didn't work right due to those earlier mentioned problems. Still we were able to finish second, but we had an unpleasant surprise waiting for us in the finish: we were disqualified because of an incident that happened on stage two. Our car died at time control and we were pushed aside by the organizers. That was against the rules according to the judgment of FASF. Disqualified Toyota Corolla WRC Waltikka Rally, Valkeakoski, Finland 10.6.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila The roads were expected to be great in Valkeakoski, but because I was driving as the first car, I knew the roads would be slippery at least for me. This was in fact the case on the opening stage, where I ended up losing three seconds to the stage winner, Sebastian Lindholm. On the next three stages I was able to gain the gap but unfortunately only by 0,5 seconds. The differences in times were marginal and catching Lindholm felt like a lot of work. We seemed to have excactly the same speed. On stage five Lindholm increased the gap by nearly two seconds. On stage six I tried to catch him, and I achieved quite well until the last crossing where I made a stupid mistake. I came too fast to the crossing so that the rear end of the car spinned on the loose gravel. I ended up gidding the ditch for 50 meters until I was able to get the car back on the road. I lost some valuable seconds so that Sebastian was 1,7 seconds faster on this stage. The gap was 7,5 seconds when the last, a 21 kilometers long stage was left to drive. I pulled my best and didn't make any mistakes this time, but Lindholm was a bit faster though. I was to settle for the second position on both the overall and the group competition with 8,1 seconds gap to Lindholm. Lindholm was better in Waltikka Rally but fortunately I maintained my lead in the series. 2nd Toyota Corolla WRC SM Peurunkaralli, Finland 11.3.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila I kept up the same speed as in Mikkeli. I drove the fastest time on the first stage. One of my rivals Jarmo Mikkonen drove off the road on stage three. After that we were fighting for the victory with Sebastian Lindholm. Sebastian´s car died at the take-off on stage five and because of that I got a few seconds' lead. The victory was secured in the finish of the last stage after a successful drive. The car worked perfectly and that is why I would like to thank the whole Latvala Motorsport service team (Pekka Asunmaa, Asko Kosonen, Jouko Halla-aho, Reijo Häkkilä, Marko Mäkinen, Jari, Mari and Helena Latvala) 1st Toyota Corolla WRC SM Vaakunaralli, Finland 17-18.02.2006Co-driver: Miikka Anttila The rally didn´t start very well when my co-driver´s in-helmet headset broke down on the first stage. Luckily Miikka thought of using the scrutineering headphones. He kept the helmet on and connected the scrutineering headphones to his helmet and shouted me the notes through the headphone turning the notebook pages with only one hand. A difficult task but Miikka got through it very well. Fortunately the incident didn´t affect our speed. We had built up a lead by the time we returned to the first service but the difference in time to the second place with Jarmo Mikkonen was very small. After service came stage four. That stage was 25 kilometres and it was a crucial one because we were able to pull a ten second gap over Jarmo Mikkonen. Mikkonen was the fastest on stage five and after that it was already time for a break. The contest was extremely keen at the beginning of the next stage but then it was suddenly over. Mikkonen drove off the road for over a minute. After this I only focused on driving to the finish without mistakes. This I managed to do and I celebrated the first victory in Finnish Championship. 1st overall, 1st in group A Toyota Corolla WRC |
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