Volkswagen Motorsport‘s Jari-Matti Latvala held his nerve to take victory on the 2015 Tour de Corse, round 11 of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship. The Polo WRC driver is the first Finnish driver to win the iconic event since Markku Alén in 1984. Latvala came into the final leg of the event with a slender two second lead over M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans but managed to extend it to 43.1 seconds by the end of the event.
Torrential rain and resulting flood damage forced the cancellation of two of the nine special stages. The weather also made road conditions treacherously slippery which meant just finishing was an achievement.
“We’ve not had to push to the maximum at any point, but it was a faultless drive in difficult conditions.” said Latvala. “After winning last year (in France), I have now done it again in Corsica and it’s important for me to show I can be competitive on all surfaces,” said Latvala.
The Finn had said before the event that he was aiming to win the final three rounds after his team-mate was crowned World Champion at the last round in Australia and the win will be a massive confidence boost to the Volkswagen driver. Evans drove a mature final leg to seal second place, his best result to date, with Andreas Mikkelsen third in the other Volkswagen. Kris Meeke secured another important haul of points and was happy with fourth considering his lack of confidence in the conditions with Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon taking fifth.
Round 12 of the World Rally Championship will take crews to Spain for the Rally RACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada in three weeks time.
