Latvala claims third win of the season in Corsica

PARIS (Reuters) - Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala won the Rally of France in Corsica on Sunday for his third victory of the season with champions Volkswagen. Latvala, who also won in Portugal and Finland, beat Britain's Elfyn Evans (Ford) by 43.1 seconds while Volkswagen team mate Andreas Mikkelsen of Norway was third and 46.3 seconds off the pace. "It's been a great weekend. We haven't been at the maximum at any point, but we had to be careful driving in difficult conditions," said Latvala, the first Finn to win in Corsica since Markku Alen back in 1984. Last year's French round was held in the Alsace region and Latvala also won that. Volkswagen have already secured both the manufacturers' and drivers' titles, with France's Sebastien Ogier clinching his third successive crown in Australia last month. Ogier was hampered by a 10-minute penalty in France after he failed to finish Friday's leg but won Sunday's final power stage. France was the first rally since Europe's biggest carmaker was hit by an emissions scandal and Volkswagen team principal Jost Capito said the company's world rally championship programme would not be affected. "The Volkswagen WRC team could not have been more successful, winning three back-to-back World Championships," he said. "We have a green light for the project up to and including 2019, and are working hard to ensure we remain as successful as possible on the sporting front." Volkswagen has announced it is setting aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.29 billion) to help cover the cost of the scandal after it was revealed the firm had used software to manipulate emissions tests. ($1 = 0.8922 euros) (Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Alan Baldwin)