Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Ford expects Jari-Matti Latvala to challenge Loeb in the WRC in 2012

Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson believes that Jari-Matti Latvala is the man most likely to challenge Sebastien Loeb's supremacy at the top of the sport in 2012

Speaking at AUTOSPORT International, where Ford's factory M-Sport squad unveiled its official livery for this season, Wilson said that Latvala is now ready to challenge for a world championship title off the back of strong performances in the Fiesta RS WRC in the second half of 2011.

"Beating Loeb is what really drives everybody in the team - to try to find a way to take him off the top step," said Wilson. "We really feel now that we have got Jari-Matti into a position where we know he can challenge for and win rallies. Whether he can win enough now to win the championship remains to be seen.

"If there is anybody out there, then he is the man to try and challenge for it.

"If you look at Jari-Matti's performance, certainly in the second half of the season it was outstanding," added Wilson. "To the point where he achieved more fastest times than any other driver - more even than Sebastien Loeb. Not only that we saw a big step in his maturity, in the second half of the season.

"He would definitely have won more than one rally[last year], but he helped Mikko because we were really pushing for Mikko to get the championship, but his performance as well on asphalt was absolutely sensational.

"We knew the speed was always there but it seems as though now he has developed into the complete driver and we feel he is the man in the strongest position to really try and pull that title away from Loeb."

Wilson also said that he expected the team's new signing Petter Solberg to able to challenge for victories in 2012 even though the 2003 world champion has been specifically hired to play a support role to Latvala.

"We really feel he can bring something," said Wilson. "He has got all that experience, he's won a championship. He is probably one of the most experienced drivers in the WRC. We are looking forward to some really good feedback from him.

"The first two rallies we've told Petter that we want him to run basically the same spec of car as Jari-Matti will. We want to really focus all his attention on driving and not worry so much about the set-up. Get those two events under his belt and then we will really sit down and we can try and really improve the car going forward.

"We've made it very clear that Jari-Matti is our number one driver, but it's not to say that Petter can't win a rally if the conditions are right. If we are in a situation where Petter is leading and Jari-Matti is third then we would be happy if Petter wins."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Ford vows to assist FIA with World Rally Championship issues
Next article The week the WRC teetered on the brink

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe