Latvala Stupid Crash - Rally Poland 2009 - High Quality

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team driver Mikko Hirvonen has won the 66 ORLEN Platinum Rally Poland 2009 and now moves into the lead of the World Rally Championship for the first time this season. The big drama on the Mikolajki Super Special (the final stage) though was Jari-Matti Latvala who crashed his Ford Focus into an armco barrier after clipping a barrel, wrecking the front suspension and becoming stuck less than 1km from the finish. In quite unbelievable scenes Latvala attempted to push the Focus around the stage to the finish in an attempt to get a time and classification. Rally Poland winner Mikko Hirvonen commented on the drama which unfolded before him as Latvala crashed: That's unbelievable, I can't believe what I am seeing. "It was my mistake," admitted a distraught Latvala. "I wasn't driving too quickly but I turned into the bend too early and clipped an oil barrel which was full of sand. The impact broke the steering and I couldn't turn into the next bend and hit the barrier on the opposite side of the road." "I've let down the team and damaged Ford's dream of winning the manufacturers' title this year," Latvala said. A determined Latvala and Anttila tried to push the car to the finish of the stage and completed a whole lap before being forced to stop and retire. Ford Team Director Malcolm Wilson reflected on a bitter-sweet end to the weekend. "Mikko has been fantastic throughout," he began. "He drove superbly all weekend and thoroughly deserved to take his second win in a row. But I never expected to see what I saw on the final stage. I went to watch the perfect end of a perfect weekend but I can't believe what happened right in front of my eyes. It was heartbreaking to see such an excellent result slip away after both drivers did such a superb job for three days."

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YouTube | June 28, 2009

Tags:. .manufacturers. .broke. .barrier. .impact. .latvala