WRC ace Sordo confirmed as replacement for injured Latvala at Ford

Prodrive MINI WRC Team driver Dani Sordo will replace the injured Jari-Matti Latvala at the Ford World Rally Team for the upcoming FIA World Rally Championship visit to Argentina (27-29 April) it has been confirmed today, 18 April.

Latvala, winner of Rally Sweden, broke his collarbone last week during a skiing accident and has therefore been ruled out of the South American event.

Ford World Rally Team Director Malcolm Wilson has confirmed Sordo and co-driver Carlos del Barrio will be the stand-in crew while Latvala recovers. The Finn is expected to return to action for the following round, Acropolis Rally, at the end of May.

“We’re naturally disappointed that Jari-Matti will miss the rally, but ensuring a full recovery as quickly as possible is the most important thing for him and the team,” said Wilson, “We’re fortunate to have a driver of Dani’s calibre to join us.”

He added: “The agreement is for one rally only, and I would like to thank the management of Dani’s current team, who were extremely gracious in helping us in such challenging circumstances.”

Sordo has previously competed on Rally Argentina on five occasions with a best result of second place in 2009 when driving as team-mate to Sebastien Loeb at Citroen. This year, driving his Prodrive-run MINI, Sordo achieved a podium finish on the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo.