The Ford works driver underwent several racing incidents in the first 4 rounds of the season, with the most unfortunate being his car rolling down the cliff during Rally Portugal. Being only inches away from a near-fatal accident 2 rounds ago, he had to follow a safe-finish strategy in Argentina and only then be able to really push for top positions.
After receiving the go-ahead from team principal Malcolm Wilson to continue to push for the win, Latvala completed a mistake-free event in Sardegna, braking reigning champion Sebastien Loeb's winning streak this season.
“It's an unbelievable feeling that I am having now. It's been so tough and difficult, a lot of things have happened. I have done a lot of mistakes. I have to say a big thanks to team. The team has had no doubts, even if other people did. I got the small things together this weekend. The secret was consistency and a little bit of luck with starting position,” said Latvala.
“We started here with a good position, but when I was a bit more confident on the afternoon of Friday, the team felt it is now time to try and work for the victory and they sent the message saying: 'Push, push.' I asked my co-driver: 'Do we really go flat out?' He said: 'Yes! Keep going!'”, revealed the Finnish driver at the end of Rally d'Italia.
His win last weekend provided him with an important point boost in the drivers' classification, where he is now 6th overall, only one point behind Petter Solberg and 2 points less than 4th placed Henning Solberg.
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