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Jari-Matti Latvala’s Tour de Corse tour de force
The Finn wins a topsy-turvy Rallye de France as Elfyn Evans takes his career-best finish in second.
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Latvala did what he set out to do in Corsica
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Volkswagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala took victory in a heavily rain-affected Tour de Corse, winning out over M-Sport’s Elfyn Evansand the sister Volkswagen of Andreas Mikkelsen at the French classic.
Latvala took his third win of 2015 by 43.1 seconds from Evans, who recorded the highest finish of his career in second after leading the rally after Day One, while Mikkelsen finished 46.3 seconds behind the Finnish driver.
“I’m really pleased with this result,” Latvala told reporters at the end of Stage Nine. “It was important to win here and for me to be confident on all surfaces.”
Andreas Mikkelsen was third
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Newly-crowned world champion Sébastien Ogierwas ruled out of contention early on after suffering a slow puncture on Stage Three, with the top five in Corsica completed by the Citroën of Kris Meeke – who still hasn’t been confirmed at the French team for 2016 – and the Hyundai of Hayden Paddon.
The returning Mads Østberg was sixth for Citroën, having been ruled out of the previous rally in Australia after a crash in recce, with Hyundai’s Dani Sordo seventh, Bryan Bouffier eighth, Stéphane Sarrazin ninth and the second M-Sport car of Ott Tänak in tenth.
Here’s what we learned at the 2015 Tour de Corse.
Latvala’s perfect start to his end of year plan
After ruing his missed opportunity in the 2015 drivers’ championship, Jari-Matti Latvala went on record with an ambitious target ahead of the Tour de Corse. “I want to win the remaining three rallies [of 2015],” the Finn told WRC.com. “After all, we can lay the foundation for next season with a successful run-in.”
Latvala was on great form in Corsica
© Volkswagen Motorsport
Latvala’s win on the tarmac of Corsica, 12 months on from his first-ever tarmac victory at the Rallye de France-Alsace, will be a great confidence boost for the Volkswagen driver. Just Spain and Wales to go now…
Crazy weather in Corsica
With only nine stages on the original itinerary for the Tour de Corse, just seven of those ended up being run after widespread flooding on the island caused Stages Two and Four to be cancelled. The rain also made conditions on the stages that were run difficult for the drivers, with grip levels on the tarmac constantly changing.
The rally was disrupted by flooding
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Sensational Evans finds his confidence
After a disappointing Rally Australia, Elfyn Evans knew that he needed some strong end-of-year performances to finish his second season in the top-level of the World Rally Championship on a high.
The Welshman’s drive on Stage Three of the Tour de Corse, which saw him leap from lying sixth at the start of the stage to leading the rally by nearly 19 seconds at the end of it, was awesome to behold. Although he’d end up losing that lead eventually to Latvala, Evans will fly out of Corsica with silverware in his luggage and some priceless confidence.
Elfyn Evans showed great focus in Corsica
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
No home glory for Ogier
Sébastien Ogier hasn’t had much luck at his home rally for the last two years. Electronics issues last year denied him the chance to claim his second world title in front of his home crowd, while this year, with the championship already in the bag, a slow puncture cost Ogier another chance of French victory.
With a €10,000 fine dished out to the three-time champ for not pressing the ‘OK’ button after fixing his tyre and some gearbox issues to deal with for good measure, it was another Rallye de France to forget for Ogier. But we don’t think he’ll be losing too much sleep over it…
It wasn't Ogier's event...but he'll get over it!
© Volkswagen Motorsport
Abbring impresses at Rallye de France
With tarmac specialists Bryan Bouffier and Stéphane Sarrazin making rare appearances in Corsica, there was talk ahead of the rally start of a wildcard driver causing an upset. No-one much was looking at the fourth Hyundai of Dutchman Kevin Abbring to create that upset, but that was exactly what happened, with Abbring lying an incredible second overall at the end of Day One.
Although the Dutchman would slip down the top five before crashing out of the rally on the final day, it was still an impressive performance from the 26-year-old in only his fourth appearance in Hyundai’s i20 WRC.
Abbring impressed
© Hyundai Motorsport
Big notes from a small island
“If you find a 100-metre straight on Corsica, you are on the wrong island!” announced Jari-Matti Latvala before the rally got underway. They call the Tour de Corse the rally of 10,000 corners, with drivers facing a dizzying number of turns throughout the event. Kris Meeke’s co-driver Paul Nagle needed over 500 pages of pace-notes – more than double the usual amount – to guide Meeke to the end of the rally.
Meeke was also racking up a lot of hotel bills in Corsica, staying in five different places throughout the rally due to the event being spread out over the island.
Julien Maurin won WRC2
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Julien Maurin takes the spoils in WRC2
Frenchman Julien Maurin was the surprise victor in WRC2, beating the Škoda of Esapekka Lappi and the Peugeot of Craig Breen in his Ford Fiesta S2000 to record his first ever WRC2 victory.
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