Latvala takes home win in WRC Rally Finland

Latvala may have won the prestigious Rally Finland, he needs to consistently challenge Ogier to establish himself  as a serious contender in WRC.

Ever since he moved to Volkswagen in 2013, Jari-Matti Latvala has driven in the shadows of teammate Sebastien Ogier. While the latter raced to consecutive titles in 2013 and 2014, Latvala finished third and second in the championship respectively, unable to mount a serious challenge during both seasons.

However, Latvala has this ability to spring surprises and comprehensively beat Ogier on his day.
And the 2015 Rally Finland was just one of the occasions where Latvala dominated the proceedings, forcing Ogier to concede that he was simply the quicker driver at the fabled event.

This victory, his second of 2015, came fittingly at his home turf, which happens to be the most prestigious event of the season.

And although there has never been any doubt about Latvala’s potential, the Finn needs to consistently beat Ogier, if he is to end his dominant reign in world’s premier rally championship.

This means not repeating those costly mistakes that robbed him of strong results in Sweden and Mexico, two rallies from where Latvala returned empty handed.

VW chief defends Meeke
Ireland’s Kris Meeke made headlines this year when he defeated the Volkswagen trio to take victory in Rally Argentina.

More recently, however, he has come under fire from Citroen boss Yves Matton for his crashes in Italy and Poland.

But Volkswagen’s motorsport chief Jost Capito has a completely different view point, having been impressed by Meeke’s ability behind the wheels of the DS3 WRC.

Capito is convinced that Meeke has what it takes to be a world champion and would happily sign him, if VW were fielding a fourth car in WRC.

Hyundai’s 2014 Germany triumph
By the time the September issue of autoX magazine has gone to press, the 9th round of the 2015 WRC season would have concluded in Germany.

Known formally as the Rallye Deutschland, the asphalt rally was where Hyundai bagged their maiden win in WRC in 2014. Although last year’s memories will spur the team for another strong result, Hyundai is aware that it won’t be until 2016 that it starts regularly fighting for top scoring positions.

This will be the year when the Korean manufacturer debuts its new i20 car. Given that Citroen has won only a single race since 2014, Hyundai might be the best bet in ending Volkswagen’s stranglehold in WRC.