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Two out of two for Latvala
Jari-Matti Latvala claimed his second victory in successive weekends when he won the Lahti Historic Rally in Finland for the fifth time.
The Finn and co-driver Asko Sairanen were fastest on all 10 special stages in an Audi Quattro, sporting period Audi Sport colours, to win the FIA European Historic Championship counter.
Victory came a week after Latvala drove his Volkswagen Polo R to success at Neste Oil Rally Finland. He defeated team-mate Sébastien Ogier at the Jyväskylä-based event to climb into second in the FIA World Rally Championship.
“An amazing weekend, with a victory at the end. It was a pure pleasure to drive in the stages of the Lahti Rally,” said Latvala, who immediately flew to Germany to test for round nine of the WRC, ADAC Rallye Deutschland (20 -23 August).
“I really love to come to Lahti for the historic rally because it’s always really well organised and the stages are fantastic. I enjoyed it a lot and the atmosphere was relaxed and nice as usual,” he added.
Former WRC rival Mikko Hirvonen drove his Rothmans-liveried Ford Escort RS1800 to second place in Lahti, 3min 50sec behind Latvala.
“Second overall and first in our class. And bloody happy because we loved it from start to finish,” said Hirvonen. “The weather was good, the stages were really fantastic and the longer the rally went on, I started to understand more and more how to drive,” he added.
