WRC Finland: Ford team celebrates home win


BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila won a thrilling Rally Finland to earn a place in the history books. The Finns won this eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time by 10.1sec in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, joining a long list of Finnish greats who have triumphed in their home event. Latvala and Anttila were mobbed by their fellow countrymen as they took to the podium in Jyväskylä. Twenty-five-year-old Latvala, already the youngest driver to win a world rally, became the youngest winner of Rally Finland since the WRC started in 1973.
It was Ford's second consecutive victory in the legendary event following the success of Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen in 2009, and the manufacturer's fourth win in five years. It was a tremendous result too for Citroen whose C4 cars finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. The championship returns to asphalt next month when drivers tackle vineyard tracks and military roads in Rallye Deutschland, based in Trier on 19 - 22 August.

Final positions
1. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 31min 29.6sec
2. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 2hr 31min 39.7sec
3. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 2hr 31min 55.6sec
4. P Solberg/C Patterson NOR Citroen C4 2hr 32min 00.3sec
5. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 2hr 33min 14.6sec
6. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 2hr 37min 13.3sec
7. M Østberg/J Andersson NOR Subaru Impreza 2hr 37min 20.4sec
8. J Kankkunen/J Repo FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 39min 18.6sec
9. J Hänninen/M Markkula FIN Skoda Fabia 2hr 40min 34.6sec
10 P-G Andersson/A Fredriksson SWE Skoda Fabia 2hr 41min 45.3sec

WRC Drivers		Manufacturers
1. S Loeb	166pts	1. Citroen Total	265pts
2. S Ogier	118pts	2. BP Ford Abu Dhabi	210pts
3. J-M Latvala	105pts	3. Citroen Junior	155pts
4. P Solberg	90pts	4. Stobart M-Sport Ford	108pts
5. M Hirvonen	86pts	5. Munchi's Ford	40pts