Jari-Matti Latvala clinched victory in the Rally of France on Sunday to draw closer to World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Ogier.

With two races to go until the end of the season, the Finn is just 27 points behind the Frenchman, who is the reigning world champion.

Ogier had started his home rally with a 50-point lead over Latvala in the overall standings and in position to secure the world title.

But the Volkswagen driver lost four minutes with a gearbox problem on Friday and then was hit with a four-minute penalty for checking in at the third stage too early.

That left him with way too much to do yesterday, and he had to settle for a meagre return of just three points.

Latvala, driving a VW-Polo, took the 12th rally win of his career and the first on asphalt, ahead of Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen (VW Polo-R) and the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi racer of Kris Meeke.

“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,” Latvala said.

“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.”

Ogier has to regroup after a miserable weekend on home soil.

“I have never known such a succession of problems in such a short time,” Ogier said. “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.”

It was the first time since 2004, when Estonia’s Markko Martin triumphed, that a French driver has failed to win the Rally of France. Sebastien Loeb won it six times and Ogier twice.

The two remaining races this year are in Spain and Wales.

“I really like the upcoming races, especially in Catalunya,” Latvala said.

“In Spain, the first day will be very important and to lose time from the start could be penalised.

“It’s not easy to catch up if you lose 20 seconds but I will be going there to win.”

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