Following his maiden competitive outing in America last week, Jari-Matti Latvala says there are lessons the World Rally Championship can take from how rallying is run Stateside.
The Toyota driver, who won the Olympus Rally by seven minutes, said he was impressed by what he found from his first ever ARA National Championship round in Washington.
“When we came on the Friday to the parc exposé I was really surprised,” Latvala told DirtFish. “There were so many people there. It was really nice to have them able to come and look to the cars and to meet with the drivers and co-drivers – it was such nice atmosphere with a lot of fans coming and shaking my hand and just telling me thanks for coming to the rally.
“This was something strong for the sport in America – and something I think the WRC can learn from. It’s such a good way to interact with the spectators and to bring the sport more to the people in the towns.”
With America closing on a WRC return next season, Latvala added that the discipline was ready for a lift in terms of profile.
Latvala might return to the US stages later this year in a GR Corolla Rally RC2
“There’s so much potential in America,” he said, “there’s potential to improve the championship, the appearance and the knowledge of rallying. We saw so many people who came to the service park and some in the stages, but we know there are more that we can talk to and to reach.
“There are some things we just need to work on. Maybe, for example, we could get a live feed from the stages to make it easier for people to follow the rally.”
Latvala’s Toyota team-mate Seth Quintero will contest the remainder of this year’s ARA National Championship, but the Finn hasn’t ruled out the potential for a return himself. This weekend, however, his focus switches back to the European Historic Rally Championship and an entry on the Costa Smeralda Rally, which starts in Sardinia on Friday.
“Costa Smeralda is going to be interesting,” said Latvala, who swaps a Toyota GR Corolla Rally RC2 for a Celica Turbo 4WD. “It’s not the same like we remember it from before, it’s now an asphalt event – still based from Porto Cervo – but many of the old gravel roads used in the 1980s have been covered with Tarmac.
“This will be quite a big change from Olympus for the car and the style of driving for this weekend.”
