Volkswagen Polo R driver Jari-Matti Latvala claimed victory at the Acropolis Rally in Greece on Sunday.
Latvala’s win was relatively comfortable in the end, as he made the most of problems suffered by both world championship leader Sebastien Ogier and Ford Fiesta RS’ Evgeny Novikov during the weekend to notch his first triumph of the season.
Latvala, who made his debut at the Greek circuit in 2003, completed the 14 short stages in a time of three hours, 31 minutes and 1.2 seconds to finish ahead of Citroen DS3’s Dani Sordo (+1:50.0s) and Ford Fiesta RS’ Thierry Neuville (+2:14.1s) at the World Rally Championship event.
“It feels amazing. It was a tough start to the season and this was an important moment,” Latvala said after his victory.
“It’s 10 years ago since I drove my first rally in a world rally car and it has taken me all that time to win here.
“Yesterday I wasn’t thinking about winning, but this morning I thought about it a lot, especially in the last stage.”
Latvala’s victory was not exactly straightforward, as he made a mediocre start to proceedings on the first day of action on Friday.
But a strong finish saw him end the day in third, as fuel problems for his team-mate Ogier forced him out of contention.
Latvala’s rise continued as he moved in front of Sordo early on Saturday before a Novikov crash allowed him to take the lead.
Novikov, who crashed into a bank and suffered significant damage to his wheels, suspension and brakes, lost almost five minutes and was unable to recover.
Latvala did not surrender his lead from there, mixing quick driving with careful risk-management as he recorded an impressive win.
Sordo drove a good race to take second while Neuville adopted a conservative approach amid all the carnage to also claim a place on the podium.
Volkswagen Polo R’s Andreas Mikkelsen (+3:55.1s) finished fourth, edging Citroen DS3’s Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah (+4:12.6s), who was fifth.
Ogier (+10:10.3s) ended all the way back in 10th, but he still holds a comfortable lead at the top of the championship standings.
The Frenchman (126 points) leads Latvala (74 points), while nine-time world champion and Citroen DS3 driver Sebastien Loeb – who is racing to a significantly reduced program in 2013 – is third with 68 points.
(source: scandinavium)
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