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Rally Mexico: Volkswagen insists Latvala's weekend not a disaster

Volkswagen boss Jost Capito insists Jari-Matti Latvala can use the rest of Rally Mexico as a golden opportunity to acclimatise to the Polo R WRC, despite being 49 minutes behind the leaders

Latvala retired from the opening day of the event on Friday morning's first proper stage, when a rock damaged the VW's track control arm.

The Finn has restarted under Rally 2, but is running first on the road.

Capito said he does not care what times Latvala sets if he can take the weekend as a chance to get more comfortable in the car, having trailed team-mate Sebastien Ogier so far this season.

"We want to see Jari-Matti getting some gravel experience with the car - that's what he will be doing today," said Capito.

"We don't care about the stage times today. He will try and get adapted to the Polo on these conditions.

"We talked about him trying different driving styles and so, for sure, we will see some better and some worse [stage times]. We will see how to best adapt the car [to him].

"It is quite good to do this without being in competition, while being in competition. This is not a disaster at all for Jari-Matti."

Capito's other Polo R WRC leads the event in the hands of Ogier.

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