Volkswagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala holds slim two-second lead at Rally of France

COL DE SORBA, Corsica // Jari-Matti Latvala took charge of the Rally of France with a lead of two seconds over Elfyn Evans ahead of the final day.

Latvala mastered hairpin bends on narrow and bumpy roads to post the fastest time of Saturday’s opening stage in his Volkswagen and cut overnight leader Evans’ advantage to 1.7 seconds. Latvala overtook Evans at the top of the standings thanks to his second-place finish in special stage 6 behind world champion Sebastien Ogier.

The day’s first special stage was cancelled after landslides damaged roads.

Latvala, who was 8.7 seconds slower than Ogier, said he experienced gearbox problems during the sixth and final stage.

“I lost the rhythm after 15 kilometers because I had to use the manual system,” Latvala said. “We got through, that’s the main thing.”

Ogier, who clinched his third successive WRC title after winning Rally Australia in September, retired on Friday after a failure in the gear shift system of his Volkswagen Polo R. The Frenchman has been authorized to continue the race but was handed a 10-minute penalty.

“I had a good feeling, but it’s frustrating to fight with nothing at stake,” said Ogier, after winning the longest stage of the race at the Col de Sorba. “We had some technical glitches this season, it proves that the team has still work to do. But the most important is the world title, which we have already sealed.”

Ogier lags 9 minutes, 26.8 seconds behind Latvala. Andreas Mikkelsen is in third place, 30.8 seconds off the pace.

Results at the end of the second day of the Rally of France in Corsica on Saturday:

1. Jari-Matti Latvala-Mikka Anttila (FIN/Volkswagen Polo-R) 1hr 42min 24.8sec, 2. Elfyn Evans-Daniel Barritt (GBR/Ford Fiesta RS) at 2.0sec, 3. Andreas Mikkelsen-Ola Floene (NOR/VW Polo-R) 30.8, 4. Kris Meeke-Paul Nagle (GBR-IRL/Citroën DS3) 53.6, 5. Kevin Abbring- Sebastian Marshall (PBS-GBR/Hyundai i20) 1:00.1, 6. Mads Ostberg-Jonas Andersson (NOR-SWE/Citroën DS3) 1:05.7, 7. Hayden Paddon-John Kennard (NZL/Hyundai i20) 1:25.5, 8. Bryan Bouffier-Thibault de la Haye (FRA/Ford Fiesta RS) 1:37.2, 9. Stéphane Sarrazin - Jacques Renucci (FRA/Ford Fiesta RS) 1:51.6, 10. Ott Tänak-Raigo Molder (EST/Ford Fiesta RS) 1:53.9, 11. Dani Sordo-Marc Marti (ESP/Hyundai i20) 2:02.6, 12. Stéphane Lefebvre-Stéphane Prévot (FRA-BEL/Citroën DS3) 2:26.9, 13. Julien Maurin-Nicolas Klinger (FRA/Ford Fiesta RRC) 4:05.3

Others:

22. Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (FRA/VW Polo-R) 9:26.8

Stage winners:

Ogier 1 (SS1, SS6), Kubica 1 (SS1), Evans (SS3), Latvala 1 (SS5)

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