A dominant victory at last weekend's Historic Acropolis Rally was vital for Jari-Matti's EHRC campaign
Photography by Jari-Matti Latvala
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
Jari-Matti Latvala’s challenge for his maiden FIA drivers’ title continues after a 10-minute win at last week’s Historic Acropolis Rally.
Toyota’s team principal is chasing this year’s FIA European Historic Rally Championship title aboard his Celica Turbo 4WD and made a strong start with back-to-back wins in Spain and Czech Republic. His aspirations of a maiden crown were hit, however, by three successive retirements on the following rallies in Antibes, Ypres and at home in Lahti.
Latvala admitted he was relived to be back on the podium’s top step.
“It was quite a lot of pressure coming,” the Finn told DirtFish. “We had some problems in the previous events, but we brought a new engine for this rally and it was working really, really well.
“Now the championship is back on track. Our next event will be Asturias in October. We now have three wins and we can take six scores. Let’s see what happens but, for sure, this one was a good one for us. I think if we had not been winning then the year would have been over for us in this championship.”
Reliability has been a concern this season, but not at the Acropolis
Co-driven by Janni Hussi, the Toyota pair dominated the Itea-based event, winning all but one of the 13 stages to take victory from Marios Stafilopatis in his Lancia Delta Integrale. Keeping that 1990s theme rolling, fellow Greek driver Achilleas Christodoulou was third in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI. EHRC series leader Maciej Lubiak (Porsche 911) took second-placed points, with Will Graham’s BMW M3 third to maintain second in the championship.
“Everything was running quite smoothly on this one for us,” said Latvala. “We had a small issue with the wires to the throttle body sensor, this was causing us a bit of a misfire in the Parnassos stage on the first day. But the team was able to fix it without any problems. We had some engine guys with us from TMC (Toyota Motor Corporation) on this one, so it all worked well.
“Honestly, the plan was not to win so many stages! It was nice to do, but we had to bring the car home with no problems and a win. We did that, so the story is going on.”
Jari-Matti Latvala dives deeper into his approach to winning the Historic Acropolis, and the throwback regulations that he particularly loves about competing in the EHRC. Read now - exclusively on Club DirtFish
Words:David Evans
Tags: European Historic Rally Championship, Jari-Matti Latvala
Publish Date September 9, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/09/7DdYnaMI-542877122_18526087762053678_4850504354643796928_n-780x520.jpg September 9, 2025
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