[Rally Sardinia Report] Latvala Breaks Loeb’s Dominance

Ford’s Jarri-Matti Latvala has shaken off a turbulent start to his season by breaking the dominance of Sebastien Loeb at the sixth Round of the World Rally Championship on the Italian island of Sardinia.

Latvala’s victory was his first since his maiden WRC success in Sweden in February 2008 and it was the Ford team’s first one-two result since Rally Japan in November 2008.

Ford, second in the manufacturers’ championship, closed the gap on the leader after six of the 12 rounds with a maximum points haul. Hirvonen climbs to second in the drivers’ standings with Latvala moving up to sixth.

Competitors tackled 17 speed tests covering 347.12km over narrow, flowing and rough gravel tracks near Olbia during three days of competition. Allied with searing temperatures, which topped 35ºC on Saturday afternoon, the conditions placed big demands on cars, crews and Pirelli’s Scorpion tyres. However, neither Focus RS WRC missed a beat in the Sardinian hills.

Latvala’s win came the hard way. After leading throughout the opening leg, the 24-year-old had the disadvantage of opening the special stages for the final two days, sweeping them clear of gravel to leave a cleaner and faster line for those behind.

He started on Sunday with a 9.9sec lead and feared he would be unable to hold off his team-mate. However, the still early morning allowed huge clouds of dust to hang in the air, slowing all those behind Latvala and he extended his lead.

“This is a very important win for me. I’ve had many unhappy moments since my first win, but now I’m back on the top step of the podium. I was starting to question my role in the team but I’ve proved the team’s confidence in me was right and I thank (Team Director) Malcolm Wilson for that. You saw a new evolution of Jari-Matti here,” Latvala said.

Hirvonen struggled with a fever during the rally, and the 28-year-old was exhausted at the finish.

“I have no energy and I’ve never felt so tired after a rally,” he said. “This result, and the timing of it, is perfect for Ford. I thought I could fight for the win but the dust ended those hopes.”

Petter Solberg had begun the day in third, but knew he would struggle to hold off Loeb. In the end though it would be a two-minute penalty that would decide the final podium placing, the FIA ruling the Loeb’s co-driver Daniel Elena had removed his seatbelts prior to their Citroen C4 coming to a complete halt prior to changing a punctured tyre.

“Rally Sardinia has been a good event for me and for the whole team,” a happy Solberg stated. “We have been fast many times, and today’s third makes up for the one we lost in Argentina. Too bad for Loeb, but there is nothing I can do about that.”
The young Russian Evgeny Novikov, co-driven by Australian Dale Moscatt, provided a promising display of talent to finish fifth, repaying the faith placed in him by the Citroen Junior Rally Team.

Behind the front runners the difficult event provided a raft of technical challenges to overcome. Novikov’s team mates Sebastien Ogier and Conrad Rautenbach were both forced into retirement with damper failure, while Stobart drivers Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson both experienced their own share of the drama, Solberg retiring with broken front suspension and Wilson in trouble with hydraulic difficulty.

In the PWRC category for Production vehicles a three way battle between Patrik Sandell, Patrick Flodin and Nasser Al-Attiyah became a two horse race after Flodin slowed with differential issues. Sandell appeared initially on course for victory before Al-Attiyah charged back into contention, grasping victory by just 1.5 seconds on the final stage.

The JWRC fight went the way of Martin Prokop, who battled back from his own mechanical dramas.

The World Rally Championship enters its second half next month when the action switches to Greece. The new base of Loutraki hosts the gravel Acropolis Rally of Greece on 11-14 June.

Final Placings
1. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus WRC08) 4h00m55.7s
2. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus WRC08) +29.4s
3. Petter Solberg (Citroen Xsara WRC) +1m57.6s
4. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen C4 WRC) +3m43.7s
5. Evgeny Novikov (Citroen C4 WRC) +5m11.8s
6. Matthew Wilson (Ford Focus WRC08) +7m29.3s
7. Mads Ostberg (Subaru Impreza WRC2008) +13m20.6s
8. Henning Solberg (Ford Focus WRC08) +13m21.2s
9. Conrad Rautenbach (Citroen C4 WRC) +19m31.1s
10. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Subaru Impreza WRX) +19m43.7s