As part of Ford's preparation for the new season, the Fiesta was supposed to be fielded by Ford in the Finnish event Arctic Lapland Rally, due to kick off on January 28. During the two-day Rovaniemi-based rally, which runs on ice, both Mikko Hirvonen and Latvala were supposed to put the Fiesta through its paces a leg each.
However, due to the unfortunate accident, the car was damaged intensively and will not be repaired on such a short notice. Consequently, its participation in the Arctic Rally has been scrapped, with the team now having to figure out another testing opportunity before the WRC season opener in Sweden, scheduled for February 10th.
“We will repair the damage to the car before continuing our testing in Sweden later this week. We're confident we can complete all our scheduled test work this week, but unfortunately we need to sacrifice our appearance at the Arctic Lapland Rally to do that,” announced the Ford Abu Dhabi team's director Malcolm Wilson, according to Autosport.
“It was my error,” added Latvala, who escaped unharmed from the crash, as did his co-driver Miikka Anttila. “I tried to use the snow banks to slow the car, but it rolled in the road before vaulting the snow banks and hitting some trees.”
“The Fiesta RS WRC stood up to the impact remarkably well and Miikka and I escaped unhurt. The fact that the team can repair it and we can continue to test this week shows just how strong it is.”
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