Latvala leads Rally France

Jari-Matti Latvala leads Rallye de France-Alsace after Friday’s opening leg. The Finn started the day well leading the opening stage before teammate, Andreas Mikkelsen, briefly took over the lead. Set-up changes to Latvala’s car at the mid-day service helped his cause and he regained his lead in the afternoon.

The news wasn’t so good for reigning World Champion, Sebastien Ogier. He had a spin and suffered a problem with a gearbox sensor, dropping four and a half minutes. An additional four minute penalty for booking into a stage early whilst trying to resolve their problems, added to their misery.

Citroen’s Kris Meeke drove a steady leg to finish the day in third.

Overall Classification after Day One

1. J.M Latvala / M. Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 1:01:42.9
2. A. Mikkelsen / O. Floene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +8.2
3. K. Meeke / P. Nagle (Citroën DS3 WRC) +23.1
4. D. Sordo / M. Martí (Hyundai i20 WRC) +51.2
5. M. Østberg / J. Andersson (Citroën DS3 WRC) +1:01.9
6. M. Hirvonen / J. Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:02.9
7. R. Kubica / M. Szczepaniak (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:04.7
8. B. Bouffier / X. Panseri (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:45.7
9. M. Prokop / J. Tomanek (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +2:24.1
10. E. Evans / D. Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +2:28.1

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