Leg report
WRC
Latvala marches into second as going turns tough in Germany
Published: Aug 26, 2012, 12:45 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Ford World Rally Team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila ended the second leg of Rallye Deutschland in second after a day of drama and attrition. Although the Finns encountered difficulties of their own in their Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car, they avoided the serious troubles that sidelined other front-runners to end the penultimate day’s action almost 30sec ahead of their nearest rivals.
Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila, Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Ford World Rally Team
Photo by: xpb.cc
Team-mates Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson were one of five crews from the top 10 leaderboard to fall foul of the demanding Baumholder military area, east of the rally base of Trier. Second-placed Solberg hit a rock and the rear suspension damage to his Fiesta RS WRC was too severe to carry on.
Today’s leg of this ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship was expected to be the toughest of the three-day event – and so it proved. Drivers tackled two identical loops of three asphalt speed tests covering 164.90km over vineyard tracks on the banks of the Mosel river, narrow lanes in the Saarland countryside and daunting kerbstone-lined roads at the tank training area.
With dry weather forecast this morning, Latvala, Solberg and all their rivals opted for Michelin’s hard compound tyres. However, rain unexpectedly fell in the opening 26.54km test among the grapes. The hard rubber was unsuited to the cold and wet asphalt and the Ford duo lost more than 20sec to leader Sébastien Loeb, who started earlier and enjoyed drier conditions.
Both fitted their soft compound spare tyre to the right rear of their Fiesta RS WRCs for the following special stage. With improved grip, Solberg retained second but Latvala dropped 30sec after being caught out by the wet roads and slipped to fifth overall.
“My car was set-up for dry conditions, but it was too hard so we softened the settings before the start,” explained 27-year-old Latvala. “However, I hit some water running across the road before a bend and locked the brakes. The car went straight on into a field and became stuck on the wet grass. I had to manoeuvre backwards and forwards several times before I could continue.”
Both Ford drivers then switched to soft compound tyres for the monster 46.54km Arena Panzerplatte test in Baumholder. Latvala was second fastest to vault to second. However, in doing so he displaced 37-year-old Solberg, who was sidelined around 30km after the start.
“It was my fault,” admitted Solberg. “In a long left corner, the back of the car began to slip and I couldn’t hold the slide. The rear right hit a rock and although we tried to carry on, unfortunately the damage was serious and when the wheel came off we had to stop.
“It’s disappointing because my speed was good and I was so careful all weekend not to make any mistakes. I’ll restart tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be in a position to challenge for bonus points on the final Power Stage,” he added.
With a large gap to the leader and a comfortable advantage over third-placed Mikko Hirvonen, Latvala took the safe option of soft tyres for the first two repeated stages this afternoon as rain again threatened. He consolidated second before switching to hard rubber again for the second pass over the abrasive Panzerplatte test, in which he missed fastest time by just 0.7sec.
“I wanted to play safe and chose the soft tyres in case it rained again,” explained Latvala. “It rained before the stage but the test itself was dry. It cost me a few seconds but nothing like the time I would have lost on hard tyres if it had rained.
“I liked both Panzerplatte stages. I enjoyed the fight for fastest time but I’m disappointed not to have been quickest on at least one of them. I missed out by 0.8sec in the first pass and 0.7sec in the second pass after more than 46km! Having dropped to fifth this morning, I’m happy to be in second. The car was fast enough to allow me to fight at the front, but I lacked consistency at times,” he added.
Ford World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson was again encouraged by his team’s asphalt pace. “Both drivers showed good speed and this is the most competitive we’ve been in Germany. It’s encouraging for the remaining asphalt rounds. It was disappointing to lose Petter when in a strong position, but I’m confident Jari-Matti can secure his place tomorrow,” he said.
News from other Ford teams
A clean run for Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson enabled the Adapta World Rally Team duo to climb from eighth to fourth in their Fiesta RS WRC. That position was the property of M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s Ott Tänak / Kuldar Sikk, who excelled to win two stages this afternoon before retiring in the final test after losing a rear wheel when they hit a kerb. They will restart tomorrow under Rally 2 regulations in ninth. Team-mates Evgeny Novikov / Nicolas Klinger are 31st following yesterday’s retirement, their only issues being two overshoots. Daniel Oliveria / Carlos Magalhaes are two places further back in the Brazil World Rally Team car after losing time this morning with a broken driveshaft.
Tomorrow’s Route
The final leg is short and sharp. After an 08.00 restart, competitors tackle two passes over the 30.76km Dhrontal test in the Mosel vineyards before the final 4.37km Power Stage around the streets of Trier. The finish ceremony takes place at the city’s historic Porta Nigra gate at 15.45.
Source: Ford World Rally Team
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Oliveira finished the second day in Germany with a high performance
Next article Loeb reigns supreme in Germany
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Ott Tanak
Ott Tanak to make ARA debut on WRC fact finding mission
WRC
WRC
Ott Tanak to make ARA debut on WRC fact finding mission
Ott Tanak: Never say never on WRC 2027 return but “no plan” for the moment
WRC
WRC
Rally Greece
Ott Tanak: Never say never on WRC 2027 return but “no plan” for the moment
More from
M-Sport
M-Sport’s 2027 WRC Fiesta Kit car breaks cover
WRC
WRC 21 h
M-Sport’s 2027 WRC Fiesta Kit car breaks cover
Ford to make factory WRC return in 2028
WRC
WRC
Rally Italy
Ford to make factory WRC return in 2028
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
5 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
9 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 10 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
11 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe