COL DE SORBA, Corsica — Jari-Matti Latvala took charge of the Tour of Corsica with a lead of two seconds over Elfyn Evans ahead of the final day. Latvala mastered hairpin bends on narrow and bumpy roads to post the fastest time of Saturday's opening stage in his Volkswagen and cut overnight leader Evans' advantage to 1.7 seconds. Latvala overtook Evans at the top of the standings thanks to his second-place finish in special stage 6 behind world champion Sebastien Ogier. The day's first special stage was canceled after landslides damaged roads. Latvala, who was 8.7 seconds slower than Ogier, said he experienced gearbox problems during the sixth and final stage. "I lost the rhythm after 15 kilometers because I had to use the manual system," said Latvala. "We got through, that's the main thing." Ogier, who clinched his third successive WRC title after winning Rally Australia in September, retired on Friday after a failure in the gear shift system of his Volkswagen Polo R. The Frenchman has been authorized to continue the race but was handed a 10-minute penalty. "I had a good feeling, but it's frustrating to fight with nothing at stake," said Ogier, after winning the longest stage of the race at the Col de Sorba. "We had some technical glitches this season, it proves that the team has still work to do. But the most important is the world title, which we have already sealed." Ogier lags 9 minutes, 26.8 seconds behind Latvala. Andreas Mikkelsen is in third place, 30.8 seconds off the pace. — AP
