Sunday 5 October 2014 19:23, UK
Jari-Matti Latvala kept alive his world title chances with an impressive victory in the Rally of France.
The Finn led for all of the event’s 18 stages to close the gap on championship leader Sebastien Ogier to 27 points with two rounds remaining.
Ogier had departed the race on Friday after losing nine minutes following a series of mishaps.
Latvala finished 44.8 seconds ahead of his Volkswagen teammate Andreas Mikkelsen, while Britain’s Kris Meeke was third in a Citreon a further 20.5s behind.
Another Brit, Elfyn Evans, finished sixth more than three minutes off the pace.
Latvala’s win was the first by a Finn on asphalt since Tommi Makinen triumphed in San Remo 15 years ago.
It was also the 12th world rally triumph of his career while, for the first time since 2004, a French driver did not win on home soil.
Latvala said: "It's true that to wait six years after my first victory in rally (2008 in Sweden), to finally win on asphalt is long. But my dream came true finally.
"This surface demands maximum concentration and you can't think about anything else but driving. I felt really good at the wheel of the Polo but the championship points, the victory, I didn't want to think about, only the driving and the roads in front of me.
"This rally in Alsace has shown again that anything can happen in motorsport and I will believe right to the end. I will not give up."
A disappointed championship leader Ogier admitted: "I have never known such a succession of problems in such a short time.
"All I could do was concentrate on the points in the Power Stage to limit the damage.
“I've used up one of my jokers in regards to the title and I've only got one left now.”
The final two races of 2014 are in Spain and Wales.
