WRC: Ogier cuts Latvala's lead in France

ALAN BALDWIN

ALSACE, France - Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala won the Rally of France in a Volkswagen 1-2 finish  on Sunday (Oct 5) and narrowed the points gap at the top of the championship.

The result left Latvala 27 points behind French champion team mate Sebastien Ogier, who ended his home round outside the top 10 due to problems and penalties on Friday and Saturday, still secured the maximum three bonus points for Sunday's final power stage while Latvala took one.

FIRST TAR WIN

Latvala led all but one of the 18 stages in the Alsace region on his way to a first win on asphalt, with Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen second in the other VW for his best World Rally championship result.

England's Kris Meeke was third for Citroen.

Ogier has 217 points to Latvala's 190 with two rounds remaining - Spain and Britain.

Result from the Rally of France on Sunday
1 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen 2hr38:19.1
2 Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) Volkswagen +44.8
3 Kris Meeke (Britain) Citroen +1min05.3
4 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Hyundai +1min48.7
5 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford +2min00.7
6 Elfyn Evans (Britain) Ford +3min00.8
7 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Citroen +3min02.5
8 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Hyundai +4min08.4
9 Bryan Bouffier (France) Hyundai +4min12.9
10  Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) Ford +6min07.5

Drivers’ and Constructors’ points after the Rally of France on Sunday

Drivers
1 Sebastien Ogier (France) VW Motorsport - 217
2 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) VW Motorsport - 190
3 Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) VW Motorsport II - 143
4 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) M-Sport - 93
5 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Hyundai Shell - 83
6 Kris Meeke (Britain) Citroen Total Abu Dhabi - 82
7 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Citroen Total Abu Dhabi - 80
8 Elfyn Evans (Britain) M-Sport World Rally Team - 71
9 Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) Jipocar Czech National Team - 38
10 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Hyundai Shell - 30
11 Henning Solberg (Norway) Henning Solberg - 26
12 Bryan Bouffier (France) M-Sport Ltd - 20
13 Juho Haenninen (Finland) Hyundai - 20
14 Hayden Paddon (New Zealand) Hyundai Motorsport N - 16
15 Robert Kubica (Poland) RK M-Sport - 14

Constructors
1 VW Motorsport - 373
2 Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - 175
3 M-Sport World Rally Team - 164
4 Hyundai Shell World Rally Team - 157
5 VW Motorsport II - 127
6 Jipocar Czech National Team - 41
7 RK M-Sport World Rally Team - 25
8 Hyundai Motorsport N - 24