BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team claimed a dominant one-two finish in Rally d'Italia Sardegna a fortnight ago aboard the Ford Focus RS World Rally Car.  The pair of Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila led from start to finish claiming their second career win in the FIA World Rally Championship.

The Finns reached the podium in the resort of Porto Cervo with a 29.4 second advantage over teammates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen after three days of tough competition on the Mediterranean island.
Latvala's victory was his first since his maiden WRC success in Sweden in February 2008 and it was BP Ford Abu Dhabi's first one-two result since Rally Japan in November 2008.

Ford, second in the manufacturers' championship, closed the gap on the leader after six of the 12 rounds with a maximum points haul.  Hirvonen climbs to second in the drivers' standings with Latvala moving up to sixth.
Competitors tackled 17 speed tests covering 347.12 kilometers over narrow, flowing and rough gravel tracks near Olbia during three days of competition.  Combined with searing temperatures, which topped 35ºC on Saturday, the conditions placed big demands on the cars, crews and the Pirelli Scorpion tires.  However, neither Focus RS WRC missed a beat in the Sardinian hills.

Latvala's win came the hard way.  After leading throughout the opening leg, the 24-year-old had the disadvantage of opening the special stages for the final two days, sweeping them clear of gravel to leave a cleaner and faster line for those behind.  He started Sunday with a 9.9sec lead and feared he would be unable to hold off his teammate.  However, the still early morning allowed huge clouds of dust to hang in the air, slowing all those behind Latvala and he extended his lead.

"The dust was a surprise and I was lucky with that.  This is a very important win for me.  I've had many unhappy moments since my first win, but now I'm back on the top step of the podium.  "