Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala in a Volkswagen Polo won a weather-hit Rally of France in Corsica, chalking up the 15th win of his career.
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The 11th leg of the World Rally Championship was slashed back to just seven special stages due to the storms that have swept the island over the last few days.
Latvala took the top prize 43.10 seconds clear of Welshman Elfyn Evans in a Ford Fiesta and 46.30 seconds ahead of Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen, also in a Volkswagen.
LATVALA: @JariMattiWRC and @MiikkaAnttila celebrate their @TourdeCorseWRC 2015 victory today. @VolkswagenRally #WRC pic.twitter.com/3w1i0TCoDh
— Rallying UK (@RallyingUK) October 4, 2015
Latvala took the lead away from Evans on Saturday’s final stage and never looked like conceding it from that point on.
Evans was sublime on Friday. He was 10 seconds faster than anyone else through the wet and treacherous SS3, which gave the Welshman an overnight lead of 18 seconds over Kevin Abbring.
Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, who had already clinched his third straight world title in Australia, finished out of the points after his Volkswagen experienced tyre and engine problems on the first day.
Citroën Total Abu Dhabi’s Kris Meeke, overall fourth, and Mads Ostberg (sixth) finished unchanged from their positions on Saturday.