Jari-Matti Latvala is ready to fight after a difficult first day at Rally Poland. The Toyota driver is third in the overall standings – +6.6sec behind the leader Thierry Neuville.
Latvala made a very good start to the day, going second fastest on the opening test before winning two stages in a row as he moved into the lead
In the afternoon, he slipped to third on the leaderboard as he struggled more in the deep ruts that formed on the second pass of the stages.
“The morning was very good. I was happy with the car: it was working really well in the fast sections, and it was also OK in the more slippery sections. The afternoon was not so good: I didn’t go so well in the ruts, which were quite big because of the rain. We will look at what changes we can make but it’s difficult to know in these conditions. With everyone so close, it will be an exciting day tomorrow. We will be ready to fight from the first stage onwards”, Latvala explained.
You said muddy? ? #Nope #VeryMuddy #RallyPoland #TGR_WRC pic.twitter.com/F55ZaCgb5x
— Jari-Matti Latvala (@JariMattiWRC) June 30, 2017
Juho Hänninen is also in the points in eighth place, despite also having trouble in the ruts during the afternoon. He had a better morning in comparison with the afternoon.
Esapekka Lappi was holding fifth place when he broke the front-right suspension of his car while taking a cut on the fourth stage
He was forced to stop and unfortunately, the damage cannot be repaired so he will not restart tomorrow.
“Everything was going smoothly. OK, it was difficult for sure, it was so muddy, but we found a pretty good pace to drive at. Then on one long right-hand corner, I cut slightly too much and there was a rock which I didn’t have on the pace-notes, and it broke the suspension. It was my mistake”, Lappi admitted. “I need to learn from this. It is unfortunate we can’t continue because the more kilometres I do, the better I get: before the incident, I felt comfortable with the car and the setup was really good.”
We’ll continue tomorrow #10 Latvala on pos 3 and #11 Hänninen on pos 8. #12 Lappi is unfortunately not restarting. pic.twitter.com/VnquDOlxwt
— TGR_WRC (@TGR_WRC) June 30, 2017
