Latvala stars on French practice rally

Jari-Matti Latvala continued his strong end-of-season run of form when he drove his Ford Fiesta RS WRC to victory on Rallye du Var, the final round of the French Rally Championship last weekend.

Co-driven by fellow Finn Miikka Anttila, Latvala led from Friday’s opening stage and maintained a comfortable advantage to the finish in the Cote d’Azur town of Saint Maxime on Sunday. It was the 26-year-old’s first victory on a Tarmac-based event.

Although the factory Ford team has yet to commit to next year’s World Rally Championship, the outing will serve as vital preparation for Rallye Monte Carlo, the opening event of the 2012 WRC season, due to the similarity of the mountainous asphalt stages used on the two events. Latvala’s Fiesta carried various development components.

“It’s my first-ever victory on asphalt, so that’s a good feeling,” said Latvala, who beat ex-factory Subaru WRC driver Stephane Sarrazin by 49.1s. “The rally was more difficult than I expected. The morning stages in the mountains were partly damp, but partly dry. I had to read the road closely and judge the grip levels, because they were constantly changing.”

Latvala, who became the first Ford driver to win the event since 1995, continued: “Some stages were abrasive and demanding, and when the sun shone there were many shadows. There was gravel and water on the road in the same place at times, which made it extremely slippery, and then on the last day we had fog as well. All that was missing was snow and ice.”

Estonian Ott Tanak, who appeared in a second Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team entry, recovered to third following delays on the second day of the event, caused by a damaged wheel and a puncture.