Toyota has claimed its first race win in the World Rally Championship since 1999 following Jari-Matti Latvala’s victory at Rally Sweden.
Coming into the second round of the new-look WRC Championship, Latvala was narrowly behind Sebastien Ogier in the driver’s championship. However, he now leads the championship after scoring the fastest time on six stages throughout the weekend.
Coming into the final day, Latvala had just a 3.8 second advantage over second place but managed to win SS16, SS17 and SS18 with his Yaris to come out victorious ahead of Ott Tanak in a Ford Fiesta WRC and Sebastien Ogier in third, also piloting his new Fiesta WRC.
After Volkswagen’s unexpected exit from the sport last year, both Latvala and Ogier were left without drives for 2017. Now racing for Toyota and M-Sport respectively, the drivers sit one and two in the championship.
After the race, a delighted Latvala said “I am so, so happy. For a new team and new car to win its second rally: I really have no words. I think I drove my best power stage ever today. Huge thanks to all the team. Now we are super-motivated to continue like this: I just can’t wait to get to Mexico. It’s fantastic to win but I also feel very sorry for Thierry Neuville, who lost the lead yesterday at the super special stage. I have been in a similar situation myself in the past, so I completely understand how he must be feeling now. We know we were lucky, so we need to carry on improving and working for our goal.”
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