Brandon Semenuk is the undoubted modern-day master of the Washington woods. The former Subaru star has won the Olympus Rally for the last four years – and the opportunity to race Jari-Matti Latvala for a fifth victory has sent the Canadian chasing a last-minute entry next month.
The Toyota star was confirmed in a second GR Corolla Rally RC2 alongside team-mate Seth Quintero on Tuesday.
Semenuk told DirtFish he would relish the opportunity to drive the same stages as the 18-time world rally winner.
“To have a driver of Jari-Matti’s caliber on this side of the Atlantic isn’t something that happens every day,” said Semenuk. “Competing against him would be a fantastic opportunity to understand where my pace is without making a big trip overseas. More recently we’ve seen him racing at WRC2 level when he did [Rally] Finland for the last couple of years. He was second only to Oliver Solberg [in 2024] and lost by a second to [Roope] Korhonen last time. The guy’s a legend and clearly still a very, very capable driver.
“I’d love to race him.”
Talking of his last-minute plans, Semenuk added: “Although it’s a long shot, I’m making calls to see what’s possible. There was some speculation about a second Toyota and now it’s confirmed [for Latvala], in the off chance I can to pull something together, I’d love to be there.”
Asked to predict a result, the four-time ARA National Champion smiled: “This is Jari-Matti Latvala we’re talking about, one of the greatest Finns in the history of the sport – the guy with the most experience of the World Rally Championship ever. Do you really think I’d tell you that I’m going to beat him? I’d just enjoy the chance to have a go…”
Semenuk understands the demands of competing in Latvala’s homeland, having starred at last year’s S.M. OK Auto-Ralli in Kouvola. On his debut in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 and on his first outing in Finland, he ran Esapekka Lappi a close second – beating the former Rally Finland winner on two stages.
