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Latvala amazed by his turnaround

Swedish Rally winner Jari-Matti Latvala admitted that he was surprised by how quickly he had bounced back from his disastrous start to the season

The Finn only finished 12th in Monte Carlo last month after a series of incidents during his debut for the works Ford team - including an opening stage error that left him with a puncture, and another mistake on day three that broke his suspension.

But in Sweden he was dominant from the first full-length stage on Friday morning. He established a lead of almost one minute on day one and maintained his advantage until the finish.

As he celebrated his maiden World Rally Championship win, Latvala paid tribute to the support he had received from Ford and particularly team boss Malcolm Wilson.

"After such a difficult Monte Carlo, it's amazing how good the feeling has been in this rally," Latvala said.

"I must thank Malcolm for supporting me because I have crashed his cars and many over things have happened during the years.

"I'm really happy now and really looking forward to going to Mexico. This has given me more self-confidence.

"It's a super feeling. The rally started so well from the first stage. We've had no mistakes, and the car has been working perfectly all the time."

At the age of 22 years, eight months and seven days, Latvala became the WRC's youngest ever rally winner in Sweden.

After impressing for the satellite Stobart team in 2007 - when he led three rallies and took his first podium in Ireland - the young Finn was promoted to the works Ford team following Marcus Gronholm's retirement at the end of last year.

Latvala was expected to support Ford's number one driver Mikko Hirvonen this season. While Hirvonen's second place has put him into the championship lead, he was unable to match Latvala's pace in Sweden.

But despite beating his nominal team leader this weekend, Latvala would not be drawn on his chances of mounting his own title challenge in 2008.

"I hope one day to fight for the championship, but I think Mikko will be in the battle this year, so it's not so easy," he said. "But let's see what happens during the year."

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