Rovanperä's Poland magic earns plaudits from Latvala

It was Latvala who made the ultimate call to bring his two-time world champion countryman to Mikołajki to replace Sébastien Ogier after the Frenchman’s recce accident on Tuesday.

Despite a significantly impacted recce, which included practising Sunday’s stages after the shakedown on Thursday, Rovanperä still managed to deliver a 13th career WRC win.

“It’s incredible,” said Latvala. “Obviously it was a tough decision to make [for Rovanperä] to compete on such a fast rally without the perfect recce. But to bring him here under these conditions and for him to do what he has done is amazing – I was so impressed when he took the lead yesterday (Saturday) but the gap wasn’t so big and he knew it could be tough on these stages on the last day.

“He’s been remarkable and the same for Jonne [Halttunen, co-driver].”

Rovanperä led a Toyota one-two with team-mate Elfyn Evans finishing second in the overall standings.

“After a difficult start to this rally, it’s a nice result for the team,” said Latvala. “Now we are looking forward to the next fast gravel events to come.”