Latvala tops France shakedown
ByAutoSport
Published 02/10/2014 at 14:45 GMT
Volkswagen driver Jari-Matti Latvala's decision to take a fourth run at this morning's Rallye de France shakedown stage netted him the fastest time on the two-mile test.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
The Finn won the stage by 1.2 seconds from Citroen's Kris Meeke, with Latvala's team-mate Sebastien Ogier and Hyundai's Dani Sordo third, half a second down on the Northern Irish DS3 WRC.
Latvala said: "When I went to me pre-event test for France, there was some understeer with the car and there were some things I wanted to try this morning.
"I have got really good confidence with it now. The shakedown was good."
Latvala's last asphalt outing in Germany ended in disappointment when he crashed out of a comfortable lead.
He says he is determined to make up for that mistake in France.
"I want to carry on where I left off in Germany," he said.
"It's still my dream to win an asphalt round of the championship and that's what I will try to do here."
Meeke was the first potential beneficiary of Latvala's slip-up in Trier, before the Citroen man damaged a wheel and was forced out. Meeke has put all of that behind him.
"We're just looking forward to getting out there and driving," said Meeke.
"There's virtually no vineyards on the route for this year's event - the stages are quite different in nature and they are very, very fast."
Ogier will be world champion if he scores six points more than Latvala this weekend.
He said: "It would be nice to win the championship in France, but that's the cherry on the cake - the important thing is to win it."
Volkswagen's Andreas Mikkelsen was fifth fastest, with Germany winner Thierry Neuville sixth.
The rally starts from Strasbourg tonight, with the first competitive stage running tomorrow morning.
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