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Two-time world champion Sebastien Ogier won the Monte Carlo Rally on Sunday, the Volkswagen driver holding off his Finnish teammate Jari-Matti Latvala for the Frenchman’s third success in the iconic opening leg of the world rally championship.

It was an all-Volkswagen podium for the 83rd edition with Andreas Mikkelson claiming third.

The last time the fist three places fell to the same constructor was in 2003 when Sebastien Loeb took third in a Citroen 1-2-3.

This year Loeb, a seven-time Monte Carlo winner, posted the fastest time in one of Sunday’s closing three stages, the other two going to his teammate Kris Meeke.

Loeb, the nine-time world champion who lost time after a crash on Friday, came in eighth overall.

Ogier’s previous wins in the Principality came in 2009 when the rally was part of the International Rally Challenge, and last year.

The WRC season moves next to the snow-covered roads of Sweden. – Agence France-Presse

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