WRC Finland: Latvala wins in record speed

Finland's super fast, but also super erratic, Jari-Matti Latavala bested Volkswagen Motorsport teammate and defending FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) champion Sebastien Ogier to win his home event - the storied Rally Finland - for the second straight year, and that too at breakneck average speed of 125.44 km/h. That made it the fastest ever WRC event, eclipsing Sebastien Loeb's overall average speed of 122.89 km/h set en route to winning the 2012 edition.

Latvala's win is unlikely to do little to change the seemingly inevitable outcome of Ogier wrapping up his third WRC title in succession, but the fierce battle between the two teammates made the event a season highlight as the Finn beat the Frenchman by just 13.7 seconds at the end of the rally.

Ogier as well as Citroen's Kris Meeke had led the overall timesheets before Latavala charged to the front, only narrowly holding off Ogier until the Frenchman damaged a tyre against a rock during a stage.

Ogier's championship lead stands at 89 points over Latvala, after he took the maximum bonus points available following his win in the rally's Power Stage.

Trailing the two Polo WRCs were the Citroen DS3 of Mads Ostberg, the Hyundai i20 of Thierry Neuville and the Fiesta WRC of Ott Tanak. Both Haydon Paddon and Dani Sordo suffered damage after accidents with the former's machine going end over end in a frightening crash. The New Zealand driver was unhurt after the incident, however, and will look to make amends at the next round in Rallye Deutschland on the weekend of August 21-23.

2015 WRC Rally Finland Results (top 10)

1. Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen Motorsport/Polo WRC) 2hrs. 33mins. 03.8secs.
2. Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen Motorsport/Polo WRC) + 13.7secs.
3. Mads Ostberg (Citroen World Rally Team/DS3) + 1min. 36.8secs.
4. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai Motorsport/i20 WRC) +3mins. 58.7secs.
5. Ott Tanak (M-Sport World Rally Team/Ford Fiesta WRC) +4mins. 29.3secs.
6. Juho Hanninen (Juho Hanninen/Ford Fiesta WRC) +4mins. 44.3secs.
7. Martin Prokop (Jipocar Czech National Team/Ford Fiesta WRC) +6mins. 20.3secs.
8. Esapekka Lappi (Skoda Motorsport/Fabia) +7mins. 11.2secs.
9. Pontus Tiedemand (Skoda Motorsport/Fabia) +8mins. 52.2secs.
10. Lorenzo Bertelli (FWRT s.r.l./Ford Fiesta WRC) +9mins. 37.4secs.