Jari-Matti Latvala says second place on his debut with the returning Toyota team at the Rallye Monte Carlo exceeded his expectations.
Latvala competed for Volkswagen between 2013 and 2016 but was left without a seat when the German manufacturer withdrew from the sport at the end of last season.
Latvala was quickly recruited by Toyota, which was plotting its comeback to the category, and piloted his Yaris WRC to second position, finishing behind only former team-mate Sébastien Ogier.
“This is a fantastic result,” said Latvala. “It was in Finland last year, that was the last time I was on the podium.
“The end of last year was very difficult, but this new team brought a lot of motivation for me.
“I came here with the target of a top six and with no mistakes and a consistent run, but we could see early the car has good potential.
“Of course, we were a bit lucky, but this is Monte- Carlo and I couldn’t ask for more than second.”
Latvala added that he grew more confident with his new surroundings across the course of the weekend.
“I got more and more comfortable in the car as the rally was going,” he commented.
“Most of my testing had been done on dry tarmac with only one day of winter conditions.
“Coming like that to this event, I was a little bit concerned. I wasn’t so confident with the car, but over the weekend I built the confidence and I have to say the car was working really well.”
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