Jari-Matti Latvala becomes youngest winner of a WRC rally
Feb 10, 2008
Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala won the Rally of Sweden for Ford on Sunday to become, at 22, the youngest winner of a World Rally Championship event.
Latvala, who had led since Friday's opening leg, beat the record previously held by his late compatriot Henri Toivonen.
Toivonen, a winner in Britain in 1980 at the age of 24, died in a crash in Corsica in 1986.
It was the Finn's second podium finish, having previously broken into the top three during the Rally of Ireland in November last year.
Latvala, making only his second start for the works Ford team, held his nerve in Sunday's final five stages to beat compatriot and team-mate Mikko Hirvonen by 58.3 seconds.
Hirvonen finished second to take the lead in the overall standings from Citroen's Sebastien Loeb, who pulled out on Saturday after crashing heavily on Friday.
Hirvonen has 16 points after two rounds of the championship with Latvala and Loeb, the four-time world champion who won the Monte Carlo season-opener, level on 10 each.
Italian Gigi Galli took third place for the non-works Stobart Ford team, and is fourth overall in the standings with nine points.
Norwegian Petter Solberg, the 2003 world champion, finished fourth on Sunday with compatriot Andreas Mikkelsen fifth in a privately-entered Ford.
Britain's Ford driver, Matthew Wilson, went out on stage 19 in difficult conditions, five kilometres into the penultimate stage of the rally.
The Englishman, who was fifth overall, managed to complete the stage despite his throttle problems, but later retired on the road section to stage 20.
Latvala was naturally delighted to create a piece of sporting history.
The next round of the championship is in Mexico from February 28th to March 2nd.
Rally of Sweden results
1. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Ford 2 hours 46:41.200 seconds
2. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford +00:58.300
3. Gianluigi Galli (Italy) Ford 02:23.200
4. Petter Solberg (Norway) Subaru 02:59.400
5. Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) Ford 05:46.000
6. Daniel Sordo (Spain) Citroen 07:13.100
7. Toni Gardemeister (Finland) Suzuki 10:35.300
8. Juho Haenninen (Finland) Mitsubishi 12:27.500
9. Mads OEstberg (Norway) Subaru 13:28.500
10. Jari Ketomaa (Finland) Subaru 13:50.700
Driver standings after the Rally of Sweden on Sunday:
Drivers Points 1. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) 16
2. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) 10
3. Sebastien Loeb (France) 10
4. Gianluigi Galli (Italy) 9
5. Petter Solberg (Norway) 9
6. Chris Atkinson (Australia) 6
7. Francois Duval (Belgium) 5
8. Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) 4
9. Daniel Sordo (Spain) 3
10. Toni Gardemeister (Finland) 2
11. Jean-Marie Cuoq (France) 2
12. Per-Gunnar Andersson (Sweden) 1
13. Juho Haenninen (Finland) 1
