After he broke his collarbone in a cross country skiing accident, Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala spoke about the incident that forced him to withdraw from Rally Argentina.
Last week, Latvala fell heavily during a physical training in Finland, and broke his collarbone. He will be replaced by Spaniard Dani Sordo in his Ford Fiesta WRC in Argentina this week end.
« I was just returning from training,” he told to wrc.com.
“I had been skiing for 18 kilometres and I just had to make one downhill section of 300 metres to get to the road when I fell. When I landed I felt all the weight on my left shoulder and I was quickly in really, really a lot of pain. I was struggling to get to the road but I phoned my mother who was at our winter cottage. Within 20 minutes she had got me to a small hospital where they took the x-rays. But the pain was enormous, really, really bad,” Latvala said.
Despite his injury, Latvala explained that he could almost run Rally Argentina this week end.
« Actually Argentina would almost have been possible,” he added.
“The problem was the recce. I needed two weeks between the operation and the recce starting to have tried to be there but I was three days too late. But actually there would have been a lot of stress for the arm over three long days and I couldn’t risk it. It’s a big, big disappointment I can’t drive in Argentina but on the other hand when I return in Greece I will be more motivated than ever'' he explained.
Last week, Latvala fell heavily during a physical training in Finland, and broke his collarbone. He will be replaced by Spaniard Dani Sordo in his Ford Fiesta WRC in Argentina this week end.
« I was just returning from training,” he told to wrc.com.
“I had been skiing for 18 kilometres and I just had to make one downhill section of 300 metres to get to the road when I fell. When I landed I felt all the weight on my left shoulder and I was quickly in really, really a lot of pain. I was struggling to get to the road but I phoned my mother who was at our winter cottage. Within 20 minutes she had got me to a small hospital where they took the x-rays. But the pain was enormous, really, really bad,” Latvala said.
Despite his injury, Latvala explained that he could almost run Rally Argentina this week end.
« Actually Argentina would almost have been possible,” he added.
“The problem was the recce. I needed two weeks between the operation and the recce starting to have tried to be there but I was three days too late. But actually there would have been a lot of stress for the arm over three long days and I couldn’t risk it. It’s a big, big disappointment I can’t drive in Argentina but on the other hand when I return in Greece I will be more motivated than ever'' he explained.
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| Jari-Matti Latvala (Photo: Ford) |