BP Ford Abu Dhabi's
Jari-Matti Latvala has said that he will be gunning for a top-three finish on the Neste Oil Rally Finland next week, his home round in the World Rally Championship.
Latvala finished the first half of the season with a strong runners-up spot in Turkey - his fourth rostrum result of the year, and now the youngster is eager to add a fifth to his tally on the Jyvaskyla-based event.
Speaking exclusively to
Crash.net Radio recently, Jari added that he would like to be able to fight for the win too. Whatever the case, he will definitely want to do better than last year, when he went off and failed to get to the end.
"Of course there is a little bit of pressure. It is our home rally and to win Rally Finland is always very important for the team. But the main thing is that I finish in the top three," he noted. "I will not be disappointed if I can't win - although of course it will be nice if I can fight for the victory."
Asked what it would mean to him to take his second WRC win there, Latvala admitted it would be a 'big, big moment' - although not as big as his maiden win back in February in Sweden.
"Winning in Finland would be more special than winning any other rally in a way because it is the most difficult and the most high-speed event in the WRC," he continued. "You have to drive perfectly without any mistakes because if you do make an error it is so difficult to catch the others up after that.
"The level of those roads and the competition means if you do get on the podium it is special. Of course it wouldn't be as special [if I win there] as my win in Sweden though as that was my first victory and people say that is something you never forget."
Finland is regarded as one of the classic events in the WRC and it is one of the most specialised, favouring the locals who have grown up competing on these types of stages.
