After a hugely credible fifth place in a year-old specification car, Latvala was torn. And tormented. He’d loved his three days aboard one of the world’s fastest rally cars ever, but he was forced to accept his flying days were done. Maybe they’re not. The three-time Finland winner has his sights set on taking off one more time.
The question was simple: will you start in Jyväskylä in a GR Yaris Rally1?
“Well,” Latvala told DirtFish. “I can’t say yes…”
OK. So, no then.
Latvala had a smile on his face all weekend as he made his Rally1 debut on his home event last season
“…but I can’t say no at this point! We will have discussions. I will have discussions with the team, and let’s see what we will come up with. It’s hard to let go. For me, especially because it’s the home event, it’s so difficult to watch as ex-driver, so difficult to see when the others are driving it and you are not.”
In an effort to take his mind off 500 and something horsepower in Ouninpohja and his beloved Myhinpää in the summer, Latvala will wheel out his own Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD at this week’s SM Tuuri Ralli, the latest round of the Finnish Rally Championship.
“I haven’t driven the Rally1 car since Rallylegend,” he said. “There is one rally coming in my hometown which I had thought to try to use the Rally1 car and we had some discussions again – but this is at the same time as the Safari testing is happening. Logistically, it’s impossible to arrange. But for Finland, let’s see.”
