Tanak inspired Latvala to tone down "aggressive" style
Jari-Matti Latvala says he learned from new Toyota WRC teammate Ott Tanak during 2018 and has tried to be less "aggressive" in his driving as a result.

Though Latvala is going into his 13th full season in the WRC and joined Toyota a year ahead of Tanak, it was the Estonian who emerged as the team's title contender in 2018.
Latvala believes he can use Tanak's approach to get more out of the Yaris WRC this year.
"We know Ott will be strong," Latvala told Motorsport.com. "When I saw this performance from him last year, I knew I had to do something for myself and that pressure has been driving me forward.
"Last year I made the car quite simple, I didn't fully use the advantage from the centre differential. Instead I relied on quite aggressive driving to get the car to do what I wanted it to do.
"When Ott came to the team he was wanting to work more with the car to get it more neutral and easier to turn and then be less aggressive with the driving.
"I have been learning with him a bit and this is starting to work for me as well."
Read Also:
Latvala finished last year with victory in the season finale in Australia and says that performance has fired him up for 2019.
"It's always good to go to the winter like that," he added. "But now we have a new season, everything is reset.
"The first six months [of 2018] were very difficult for us, then since Finland we had a very good rhythm.
"We need to continue that same way of working from the last six months to keep that going the whole year through. That is the way you can fight for the championship title."

Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota Gazoo Racing
Photo by: Toyota Racing

Previous article
M-Sport to focus on financial rebuilding in 2019
Next article
Bottas advised by M-Sport's Suninen ahead of rally debut

About this article
Series | WRC |
Drivers | Ott Tanak , Jari-Matti Latvala |
Teams | Toyota Racing |
Author | David Evans |
Tanak inspired Latvala to tone down "aggressive" style
Trending
Arctic Rally Finland: Highlights Stages 1-2
WRC 2021: Arctic Rally Finland Shakedown highlights
What to look out for in the 2021 WRC
As the 2021 World Rally Championship prepares to launch amid tight COVID-19 restrictions in Monte Carlo, here are the eight things unrelated to the pandemic that you should keep an eye on this year
Evans on the talking points of WRC 2021
He came close to the title last year, and now Toyota's Elfyn Evans gives his verdict on what to expect from 2021 as the World Rally Championship prepares to reconvene for the Monte Carlo season opener.
Why Britain's continued WRC absence is a wake-up call
With Rally GB dropping off the World Rally Championship calendar for the second year in a row, one of Britain's best-attended sporting events faces an uncertain future. It's an unfortunate situation that points to troubling times ahead
The Top 10 WRC drivers of 2020
A drastically-shortened 2020 season gave the World Rally Championship protagonists precious little stage mileage to strut their stuff, but as ever the cream rose to the top across the seven events. We rank the year's best performers
The twists and turns of a turbulent 2020 WRC season
The 2020 World Rally Championship bestrode all 12 months of the Gregorian calendar, and in terms of the competition it was a cracker. Moreover, it was an inspiration in dark days for the world and our industry.
The early setbacks that shaped the WRC's greatest driver Loeb
A series of close calls in his formative years threatened to leave rallying's top echelon tantalisingly out of reach for the man who would go on to claim nine WRC titles. In an exclusive interview, Sebastien Loeb recalls the key steps on his road to dominance.
Why the WRC's unorthodox Monza ending was a necessary one
The Monza Rally was an unusual way to end an unusual WRC season, and while far from ideal, without it the series could have faced serious ramifications. To persuade stakeholders to commit to an uncertain future, Monza was an important showcase…
How Monza's lottery winner matched a 27-year-old record
The 2020 World Rally Championship ended in heartbreak for Britain's Elfyn Evans as his 14-point advantage in the drivers' title race was whisked out from beneath him by a patch of Italian snow. Thus Sebastien Ogier claimed his seventh WRC title as Rally Monza joined the calendar for the first time.