Jari-Matti Latvala‘s first event of the season ended earlier than he had hoped it would after experiencing problems with the tires on the opening-stage and spinning out on the second stage.
It was the the new stage of Nyckelvattnet that saw the end of Latvala’s rally as a rock hit the car damaging a main line for the power supply to the car. The Finn battle with the car several times, restarting on the stage and lost more than one minute to it.
When the he came to service they stripped the car to find the issue finding that the cable was installed on the wrong side of a bracket, a human error which became costly to the Finn who paid the start on his own.
For Latvala, a restart would mean that he is first on the road and have no chance to put in a representative performance, so he has to forced to withdraw from the event.
Team Prinicpal Tommi Mäkinen has said that Toyota Gazoo Racing will sponsor Latvala’s entry at Rally Sardinia in the Toyota Yaris WRC as an apology.
