Sport | Other Sports
Latvala scorches his way to record
Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala won the Swedish Rally for the BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team yesterday to become, at 22, the youngest winner of a World Rally Championship (WRC) event.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:21 February 11, 2008
After enduring mixed fortunes throughout Rally Sweden's three stage days, the UAE's Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi gained six positions on the final day to eventually reach the Karlstad podium in 26th place.
Karlstad, Sweden: Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala won the Swedish Rally for the BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team yesterday to become, at 22, the youngest winner of a World Rally Championship (WRC) event.
Compatriot and team mate Mikko 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.
"It's a super feeling, it's almost unbelievable," said Latvala, who beat the record previously held by his late compatriot Henri Toivonen.
"Henri was one of my idols and secretly I've always wanted to beat his record as the youngest winner."
Toivonen, a winner in Britain in 1980 at the age of 24, died in a crash in Corsica in 1986.
Hirvonen has 16 points after two rounds of the championship with Latvala and Loeb, the four times 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 yesterday with compatriot Andreas Mikkelsen fifth in a privately-entered Ford.
Citroen's Spanish driver Dani Sordo was sixth, after starting the event with a five-minute penalty for fitting a new engine, Suzuki's Finn Toni Gardemeister finished seventh and compatriot Juho Haenninen eighth in a Mitsubishi.
Latvala, making only his second start for the works Ford team, held his nerve in Sunday's final five stages to beat Hirvonen by 58.3 seconds.
"The rally started so well from the first stage. We've made no mistakes, the car has been absolutely perfect and I've been able to control the speed," said Latvala, who had led since Friday's opening leg.
"I feel very comfortable now, this result has given me a lot of self confidence and I'm really looking forward to Mexico," he added, referring to the next round of the championship from February 28 to March 2.
After enduring mixed fortunes throughout Rally Sweden's three stage days, the UAE's Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi gained six positions on the final day to eventually reach the Karlstad podium in 26th place.
However, after finishing what he described as his "most difficult rally" to date, there was reason to celebrate for the Emirati as he won the inaugural 'Colin's Crest' - or biggest jump - accolade on the Vargasen Stage (14).
Following the tragic death of rally legend Colin McRae last year, the 'Colin's Crest' award has been designed to celebrate the Scotsman's gravity-defying antics of the late '90s.
After a torrid day in the Swedish slush, Shaikh Khalid eclipsed the entire WRC field to bring the prize to the UAE.
Share this article
More from Other sports
More from Sport
Popular in Sport
-
Pictures
Kings of the court
The world's top tennis players who will battle in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
Sport Editor's choice
-
Davydenko stuns Federer to enter ATP final
The number 13 proved unlucky for World No.1 Roger Federer as he wilted before Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
-
Afghanistan snap UAE's victory run
Man of the match Hassan takes ten runs of the last two balls to spoil hosts' winning run in the tournament
-
Lewis, Peters take four shot leads
Players enter final day of boys' and girls' competitions at the Abu Dhabi Junior Championship
