Jari-Matti Latvala knows about points and prizes. Three times in his career as a driver he finished second in a world championship he was desperate to win. In his new life as a team principal, he’s determined to do what it takes to turn silver to gold.
If season-long success means sacrificing wins for the next five rallies, then so be it. The Finn will be directing his crews down the course of least resistance towards what he hopes will be double title celebrations in Japan in November.
Sébastien Ogier is 52 points ahead of his nearest non-Toyota challenger (Thierry Neuville) while Hyundai trails Toyota by 59 points.
Talking about the approach to this week’s Ypres Rally and the four remaining events in this year’s series, Latvala told DirtFish: “It might be that our drivers look more at the championship – this is very, very important. If you think about the coming events I would say championship points for the drivers and the team are probably more important than trying to win [those rallies].
“We need to just keep going and keep doing what we have been doing: preparing the cars as well as possible and make sure everything is right for the drivers. After that, let’s see what happens.”
All of that makes sense for Latvala’s big picture – but what about Elfyn Evans? Does this mean the Welshman’s title challenge is over?
Latvala pondered this one for a moment, then became a driver again.
“If Elfyn wants to challenge Sébastien then, of course, he needs to take a little bit of risk. If you’re trying to be ahead of him, it’s not easy – Séb is very good on Tarmac. But I think Ypres as an event will suit Elfyn. I think he has a strong chance next week.”
Deflecting any question of contradiction, J-ML added: “Don’t forget, we know that Sébastien is very clever, he will be calculating the points and thinking about the title all of the time.”
