Wilson surprised by Latvala’s victory in Sweden!

Malcolm Wilson, the manager of the BP Ford team in the WRC championship, admitted earlier this week to being surprised by Latvala’s victory in the Swedish rally.

The young Finnish and new Ford driver, Jari-Matti Latvala, has indeed claimed his first WRC victory, thus setting a record for precocity at just 22 years old.

« After Monte-Carlo, I really thought that doing another year with Stobart would have been the best solution for Latvala. But now, I think I was wrong! » Comments Wilson, referring to the Finnish driver’s former team, with Latvala finishing only 10th in the 2008 Monte Carlo.

« He has been under a lot of pressure since joining the BP Ford team. I knew he was capable of winning a rally, but not before the second half of the season. He indeed needs to adapt to his new team… »

Latvala also expressed his joy: « It’s unbelievable, my father even cried. I’ve been waiting 22 years to see this… I hope I always remember this first victory. »

Latvala also admitted that he was greatly helped by the starting order on the special stages. With his 10th position, the Ford Focus driver saw 10 cars sweep the snow before him, thus benefiting from better grip.

« On Friday, I didn’t have to sweep the road, which was a real advantage. » he commented. « I then got ahead of Mikko [Hirvonen, his teammate] and managed to maintain it until the end. »

« Before, I used to have a lot of adrenaline at every start. Last year, I couldn’t control it and went off the track. This season, I learned to control it and I was able to manage my rally. »

Wilson added: « Latvala did a good job. He is making good progress and knows what is expected of him now… »