Ford has been forced to abandon the planned rally debut of its Fiesta RS World Rally Car at the Arctic Lapland Rally after Jari-Matti Latvala crashed the team's event car in Sweden at the weekend.
Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila were lucky to escape uninjured from a sixth-gear, 150kph roll which happened on the second day of the team's winter test.
Latvala explained the accident happened over a sixth gear crest. "It was my error," he admitted. "I tried to use the snow banks to slow the car, but it rolled in the road before vaulting the snow banks and hitting some trees. The Fiesta RS WRC stood up to the impact remarkably well and Miikka and I escaped unhurt. The fact that the team can repair it and we can continue to test this week shows just how strong it is."
Latvala and the team’s lead driver Mikko Hirvonen were scheduled to drive a leg each in Finland’s Arctic rally (28 - 29 January) as the final part of the squad's pre-season test programme before next month's opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Sweden.
The team had planned to use its Sweden test car for the rally but the amount of damage it sustained in the crash has forced a change of plan. Instead the car will now remain at the test location to finalise preparations for Rally Sweden.
"We will repair the damage to the car before continuing our testing in Sweden later this week," explained Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson. "We're confident we can complete all our scheduled test work this week, but unfortunately we need to sacrifice our appearance at the Arctic Lapland Rally to do that.
"I'm sorry for all the fans there who were looking forward to seeing Mikko and Jari-Matti in action in the Fiesta RS WRC, but completing our work in Sweden is the best option to ensure our preparations are completed for Rally Sweden," added Wilson.
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