Autosportfoto

Rally Argentina: Latvala takes Mexico winning approach to Argentina

Jari-Matti Latvala says after igniting his 2016 World Rally Championship campaign in Mexico with victory he will take the exact same approach in his bid for a second straight win.

The Finnish driver suffered a nightmare start to the year with two pointless outings at Monte Carlo and Sweden due to offs but profited from an advantageous starting position to claim victory in round three at Mexico.

Due to his WRC drivers' standings position of sixth place, Latvala will once again receive a stronger starting spot with five cars sweeping the gravel path clear for him.

The Volkswagen Motorsport driver is aiming to adopt the same approach from Mexico to produce an identical outcome in Argentina, however, Latvala will need to achieve a feat he's never managed in WRC before - to win two consecutive events.

"After the victory in Mexico I had the feeling that we had finally arrived in the season," Latvala said. "We must now carry this momentum on to Argentina, in order to ensure we continue to move in the right direction there.

"I will approach Argentina in exactly the same way as Mexico. Starting sixth generally gives you a little advantage - if the stages remain dry. There are more special stages this year than last year. But they are a bit shorter. I like this concept.

"I also like the mix of old and new stages. About a quarter of the route is completely new. We need new pace notes for this, but that goes for every team. I am most looking forward to the 'Mina Clavero' stage on Sunday, which was last part of the route in 2013."

Zdroj: crash.net