Pace notes: Latvala must deliver now
As Poland's return to the world stage proved to be a diamond in the rough for our rallies editor David Evans, he takes a look back at the highlights and assess the dilemna facing Ford and Jari-Matti Latvala
Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson OBE stood lazily, almost absent-mindedly, shaking the bottle of champagne. The grin on his face was spreading by the second. This was the moment his drivers were going to over-turn a difficult first half of the season with a third consecutive maximum points score in the World Rally Championship.
Fifty-four points from three rallies is, in our world, the perfect 10. Hence the bubbly. Then, with seconds to go, the bubbles went flat, Jari-Matti Latvala biffed the suspension on his Focus and 54 points turned in to 46. Wilson's smile went south, too.
Share Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.