Jari-Matti Latvala secured his fourth victory of the 2014 World Rally Championship season in France this afternoon, decreasing the gap to his Volkswagen team mate and championship leader Sebastien Ogier to 27 points with two rallies to go.
Latvala lead the early stages of the rally on Friday following mechanical trouble for Ogier who was also hit with a four-minute penalty for checking into the third special stage early. The Finn extended the gap to his second team mate Andreas Mikkelsen to 28 seconds on Saturday, before completing the eleventh round of the World Rally Championship more than 40 seconds clear of Mikkelsen, despite a more relaxed approach on the final day.
Ogier ended up in P13, but collected 3 points after winning the powers stage on Sunday, while Citroen’s Kris Meeke rounded out the podium by finishing third overall ahead of Hyundai’s Dani Sordo and M-Sport Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen.
The penultimate round of the 2014 World Rally Championship will be held in Spain on October 24-26.
