Jari-Matti Latvala scored back-to-back French World Rally Championship victories by winning the Tour de Corse – Rallye de France on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
The Finn scored his maiden asphalt triumph in 2014 in the Alsace region of France and followed up with his second sealed-surface success after a particularly demanding Tour de Corse.
Latvala, driving a Volkswagen Polo R, beat Elfyn Evans’ Ford Fiesta RS by 43.1sec after three days of action on twisty and narrow mountain roads lashed by extreme weather than caused the cancellation of two of the nine scheduled stages.
Andreas Mikkelsen finished third in another Polo R, a further 3.2sec behind.
Sébastien Ogier won the final live-TV Power Stage in a Polo R to claim three bonus points and redeem some satisfaction despite finishing only 15th overall after a disastrous Friday. The Frenchman had an event to forget, in sharp contrast to the perfect weekend when he clinched his third world drivers’ championship at Coates Hire Rally Australia just three weeks ago.
Robert Kubica took two points for second in the Power Stage in a Fiesta RS and Latvala took the final point.
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“I am struggling to put it all into words. It is a fantastic feeling to win here on Corsica,” Latvala said at the finish.
“The conditions were not easy again today, as we were constantly switching between dry and damp sections. And my lead over Elfyn Evans was not exactly what you would call comfortable.
“Despite this, I wanted to avoid taking too many risks, to extend my lead in a controlled and cool manner and to wrap up the win. I did exactly that.”
Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila showed their pace on what were probably the toughest conditions seen in recent years and at a Rally de France with an extremely diverse character.
Two of the nine special stages were cancelled due to landslides following rain, reducing the overall competitive distance to just 245.35 kilometres. Teams and drivers battled extreme weather throughout the three days of the rally.
Friday was dominated by a hurricane and heavy rain, while the mud-covered asphalt stages made life difficult for the drivers and co-drivers on Saturday. On Sunday, the biggest challenge facing the crews was a route that was damp in some places, dry in others, and gradually drying out over the course of the day.
A good finish to the rally saw Kiwi Hayden Paddon claim fifth place.
“It’s been very tough,” Paddon said. “Obviously some very trying conditions early on, and then it’s been slowly improving for the rest of the rally. We’ve been able to show some good progress from where we were in Germany. From this we can take a lot of positive signs.”
VIDEO: Morning Stages
VIDEO: Power Stage
FINAL POSITIONS: Tour de Corse – Rallye de France
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Volkswagen Motorsport | Volkswagen | 2h39m46.7s |
| 2 | Elfyn Evans | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 43.1s |
| 3 | Andreas Mikkelsen | Volkswagen Motorsport II | Volkswagen | 46.3s |
| 4 | Kris Meeke | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 1m33.4s |
| 5 | Hayden Paddon | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai | 1m53.6s |
| 6 | Mads Ostberg | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 1m59.8s |
| 7 | Dani Sordo | Hyundai Motorsport | Hyundai | 2m10.4s |
| 8 | Bryan Bouffier | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 2m12.8s |
| 9 | Stephane Sarrazin | First Motorsport | Ford | 2m39.3s |
| 10 | Ott Tanak | M-Sport World Rally Team | Ford | 3m43.0s |
2015 FIA DRIVERS´ STANDINGS
| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1. | Sébastien Ogier | 238 |
| 2. | Jari-Matti Latvala | 160 |
| 3. | Andreas Mikkelsen | 126 |
| 4. | Mads Østberg | 98 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | 86 |
| 6. | Kris Meeke | 83 |
| 7. | Elfyn Evans | 81 |
| 8. | Hayden Paddon | 66 |
| 9. | Ott Tanak | 63 |
| 10. | Dani Sordo | 62 |
| 11. | Martin Prokop | 33 |
| 12. | Khalid Al Qassimi | 9 |
| 13. | Juho Hanninen | 8 |
| 14. | Yuriy Protasov | 8 |
| 15. | Robert Kubica | 8 |
| 16. | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 7 |
| 17. | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari | 6 |
| 18. | Sébastien Loeb | 6 |
| 19. | Esapekka Lappi | 4 |
| 20. | Diego Dominguez | 4 |
| 21. | Paolo Andreucci | 4 |
| 22. | Bryan Bouffier | 4 |
| 23. | Pontus Tidemand | 2 |
| 24. | Jan Kopecky | 2 |
| 25. | Nicolas Fuchs | 2 |
| 26. | Gustavo Saba | 2 |
| 27. | Jari Ketomaa | 1 |
| 28. | Stephane Lefebvre | 1 |
| 29. | Lorenzo Bertelli | 1 |
2015 FIA TEAMS´ STANDINGS
| Pos | Teams | Total |
| 1. | Volkswagen Motorsport | 369 |
| 2. | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | 184 |
| 3. | Hyundai Motorsport | 183 |
| 4. | M-Sport World Rally Team | 170 |
| 5. | Volkswagen Motorsport II | 91 |
| 6. | Hyundai Mobis World Rally Team | 59 |
| 7. | Jipocar Czech National Team | 45 |
| 8. | F.W.R.T. | 9 |
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