WRC – A special victory for Latvala at the Tour de Corse

Jari-Matti Latvala took his third victory of the season by winning the Tour de Corse on Sunday October 4, after building a good lead over Elfyn Evans (Ford) and Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen) in the final stage. If the Finn took advantage of the abandonment of his teammate Sébastien Ogier at the end of the first stage, he had to resist the pressure of the pilot M-Sport.

“The conditions were not easy from the beginning to the end of this rally. We were still passing through dry and wet areas”, recalled Jari-Matti Latvala. “My lead over Elfyn Evans wasn’t exactly comfortable either. Despite this, I did not want to take too many risks and I sought to increase my lead in a careful and controlled manner. »

The Volkswagen driver, who was the first Finn since Markku Alén in 1984 to win the Tour de Corse, also had a thought for his compatriot Henri Toivonen, disappeared during the 1986 edition with his co-driver Sergio Cresto at the wheel of his Lancia Delta S4, during an accident which marked the end of Group B in WRC. “I would like to dedicate my victory to him. This is also what makes this day so special. »

Discover the analysis of the Tour de Corse carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2032 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.