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France WRC: Latvala claims hat trick

Paris - Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala won the 2015 France Rally in Corsica on Sunday (Oct 4) for his third victory of the season with champions Volkswagen.

Latvala, who also won in Portugal and Finland, beat Britain's Elfyn Evans (Ford) by 43.1 seconds while Volkswagen team mate Andreas Mikkelsen of Norway was third and 46.3 seconds off the pace.

Latvala, the first Finn to win in Corsica since Markku Alen back in 1984, said: "It's been a great weekend. We haven't been at the maximum at any point, but we had to be careful driving in difficult conditions."

Ogier penalised

The 2014 French Rally was held in the Alsace region and Latvala also won that.

Volkswagen have already secured both the manufacturers' and drivers' titles, with France's Sebastien Ogier clinching his third successive crown in Australia in September 2015.

Ogier was hampered by a 10-minute penalty in France after he failed to finish Friday's leg but won Sunday's final power stage.

France was the first rally since Europe's biggest automaker was hit by an emissions scandal and Volkswagen team principal Jost Capito said the company's world rally championship programme would not be affected.

He said: "The Volkswagen WRC team could not have been more successful, winning three back-to-back World Championships.

"We have a green light for the project up to and including 2019, and are working hard to ensure we remain as successful as possible on the sporting front."

Volkswagen has announced it is setting aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.29 billion) to help cover the cost of the scandal after it was revealed the firm had used software to manipulate emissions tests.

Result from the Rally of France

1 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen 2hours39mins46.700
2 Elfyn Evans (Britain) Ford +00:43.100
3 Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) Volkswagen 00:46.300
4 Kris Meeke (Britain) Citroen 01:33.400
5 Hayden Paddon (New Zealand) Hyundai 01:53.600
6 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Citroen 01:59.800
7 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Hyundai 02:10.400
8 Bryan Bouffier (France) Ford 02:12.800
9 Stephane Sarrazin (France) Ford 02:39.300
10 Ott Taenak (Estonia) Ford 03:43.000
(rank: r = retired, nc = not classified)
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