Jari-Matti Latvala scored his first win of the season and the second win for Volkswagen this afternoon in Rally Sweden, the second round of the 2014 World Rally Championship.
Latvala snatched the lead from teammate Andreas Mikkelsen on SS10 yesterday and dominated today’s morning loop to pull a comfortable gap to Mikkelsen and cruise to victory. Mikkelsen inherited first place from Ogier on SS8 following an incident for the latter which cost him more than 4 minutes. However, Latvala proved faster and stole the lead two stages later.
Citroen’s Mads Ostberg completed the podium by finishing third overall, just 6 seconds behind Mikkelsen who scored his first ever WRC podium, while M-Sport Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen settled for fourth position. Ostberg was initially running sixth overall, but a strong performance on the last two days, coupled to Ogier’s mistake, saw him move up to P3.
After a disappointing Friday, Sebastien Ogier fought back on the final day and surged from P10 to P6, finishing behind fifth-placed Ford driver Ott Tanak.
Overall standings after SS24:
