14 years, eleven months and 23 days – that is how long has passed since Tommi Mäkinen became the last Finn to win an all-asphalt round of the World Rally Championship - until Jari-Matti Latvala’s success in France.
Jari-Matti Latvala is now a winner on tarmac, like fellow Finns Makinen and Alen. (Michael Vettas photo)That is exactly 5,471 days between the Mitsubishi driver’s success at the 1999 Rally San Remo and Jari-Matti Latvala’s win at the 2014 Rally France.
The long-awaited first win of Latvala/Anttila’s career on this surface was confirmed at 12:47:33 on Sunday afternoon. And it came about in dominant fashion: Latvala/Anttila took the lead of the Rally France on the opening stage, and surrendered it only briefly for just one stage to team-mates Mikkelsen/Fløene.
They won nine of the 18 special stages, finishing in the top three on six of the remaining nine stages. Their only compatriots ever to win on asphalt before today were Tommi Mäkinen and Markku Alén.
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