Finn Jari-Matti Latvala took the podium’s top spot after Rally Argentina this weekend, his first win at the South American event. Latvala aced his Volkswagen Motorsport teammate and championship leader Sebastien Ogier by a minute and 26,9 seconds.
His 10th career victory in top flight rallying didn’t come easy to the Finn, he tussled with his French teammate for the lead on Friday – the pair eventually finishing the day in command of the field. Saturday worked to Latvala’s favour as Ogier suffered from cooling and tyres problems – which ended in the Frenchman falling 31 seconds behind overall in his Polo WRC
Yesterday’s conditions were tough, with the El Condor and Giulio Cesare stages set with thick fog and lined with deep mud. While Latvala committed himself to securing the win, defending champion Ogier didn’t take unnecessary risks, and settled for a distant second – securing maximum points for himself and the Volkswagen team.
“Last year I finished on the podium but I couldn’t dream to win here, it’s something special. I crashed in Portugal and there was a risk my self-confidence was down. If Ogier won, there was a chance the championship could become boring, but now we keep it alive,” Latvala said afterward.
Even further behind (4 minutes, 28 seconds from second), was Brit Kris Meeke in his Citroën Total Abu Dhabi DS3 WRC. After crashing in Mexico and Portugal just like Latvala, Meeke made sure the final podium position was his while doing just enough to keep Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen at bay and prevent a Volkswagen whitewash. Belgian Thierry Neuville rounded off the top 5 with his Hyundai Shell i20 WRC, despite suffering a broken driveshaft just after starting the final stage.
Standings
Manufacturers championship
1. Volkswagen Motorsport – 187
2. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi – 90
3. M-Sport – 68
4. Hyundai Motorsport – 55
5. Volkswagen Motorsport II – 52
Drivers championship
1. Sebastien Ogier – 112
2. Jari-Matti Latvala – 88
3. Andreas Mikkelsen – 48
4. Mads Ostberg – 48
5. Mikko Hirvonen – 40
