Tactical drive pays off for Latvala
Mexico winner hails 'clever' approach
Dad Jari completes Latvala family double
While Jari-Matti Latvala was en route to a dominant victory at Rally Guanajuato Mexico last weekend, father Jari launched his own celebrations after winning the opening round of Germany’s Schotter Cup.
Latvala senior wore his son’s Volkswagen Motorsport racesuit as he and Kari Mustalahti led from start-to-finish to win Rallye Wittenberg in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 in the one-day gravel championship event.
The 54-year-old Finn topped the times in the opening Woltersdorf test in his 20-year-old Lancer and despite losing 30 seconds after clipping a tree and stalling the engine during the second pass, he won by 55.2sec.
“This is a nice victory for me but the weekend will only be perfect if Jari-Matti does the same in Mexico,” said Latvala senior. Just a day later the younger Latvala secured his maiden win of the 2016 WRC season in the hot and dusty Mexican mountains.
“It’s a very special occasion,” said Latvala junior. “I think it’s the first time it’s happening, father and son winning on the same weekend.”
Pictures by Simon Stäudten
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