WRC Latvala It Was Just Slippery One Of The Hardest Days

Jari-Matti Latvala after the first day complaining about the difficult conditions in Spain, while Petter Solberg had to retire before noon.

Start with the rear seats in midfield, the two Ford factory drivers felt for the first day of the Rally of Spain in a good position - a fallacy. Jari-Matti Latvala chose hard tires in the morning for two front and two rear soft, the perfect combination for the first test and the early lead. Later in the hard tires but were more of a hindrance.

Already on the second test, it began to rain heavily and the roads were overcome from vehicle to vehicle to muddy and difficult. "That was one of the hardest days of the year," pointed to Latvala. "I changed my driving style all the time, because the conditions and grip levels changed so frequently and the muddy sand surface was like ice."

In the final stage of the day which was redrawn by heavy rains, Latvala had to wait 12 minutes until he was finally able to follow the first vehicle. "It rained so hard that the ruts were filled with water when I started and it was just slippery", the Finn made no ado. In such conditions ride faster was simply not possible. For the rest of the weekend, the weather forecast, although again not positive, but the situation looks Latvala if the asphalt substrate against more relaxed.

After all, he was proud to have finished the day, which was not his teammate Petter Solberg. After contact with a rock, the Rally for the Norwegians was terminated prematurely. "It feels so bad," said Solberg was depressed.

Up to the time of his accident, he had felt in his Ford Fiesta very well, even though the conditions were bad. About 20 kilometers after the start of the second test came in a fourth-speed left turn but to shut down. "We were born into a major groove, which was filled with water and an exposed rock was hidden in the groove," explained the 37-year course of the accident. With your first look at the front suspension was then it was clear that a quick repair on the line was not possible. On Saturday, he will start a 25 second time penalty under Rally2.