Sebastien Ogier began his World Rally Championship title defence with a hard-fought victory in often atrocious conditions on the Monte Carlo Rally.
Despite being back in ninth, 1m20s off the lead, at the end of the opening loop on Thursday morning, Ogier was able to charge back to the front by the middle of the second day.
He then pulled away, coping well with torrential rain and occasional heavy snow, to give Volkswagen its first Monte win, and to repeat his 2009 triumph on the event when it was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Ogier's early deficit occurred during the changeable conditions of the first morning, when a mixture of rain, ice and surprise snow made tyre choices a nightmare.
Robert Kubica started his first top-level WRC season with M-Sport in incredible style bywinning the first two stages, before falling back to fourth when he found himself on the wrong tyres for heavy snow on SS3.
The Pole remained in contention for a podium until crashing out on day two.
Bryan Bouffier, making what is expected to be a one-off outing in an M-Sport customer Ford, judged the weather and tyre dilemma perfectly and burst into the lead.
It looked like he would be able to put up a fight against Ogier until a spin on Friday let the world champion snatch first place.
Bouffier drove sensibly to claim second thereafter.
Citroen's 2014 signings Kris Meeke and Mads Ostberg were delighted to deliver third and fourth for their new employer.
Leading finishers after SS15:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Sebastien Ogier VW 3h55m14.4s
2. Bryan Bouffier M-Sport Ford +1m18.9s
3. Kris Meeke Citroen +1m54.3s
4. Mads Ostberg Citroen +3m53.9s
5. Jari-Matti Latvala VW +6m08.3s
6. Elfyn Evans M-Sport Ford +8m37.4s
7. Andreas Mikkelsen VW +11m42.3s
8. Jaroslav Melicharek Slovakia Ford +21m56.2s
9. Matteo Gamba Balbosca Peugeot +23m50.7s*
10. Yuriy Protasov M-Sport Ford +25m43.1s**
* S2000 car
** WRC2
WRC retirements:
Mikko Hirvonen M-Sport Ford SS15
Robert Kubica M-Sport Ford SS9
Dani Sordo Hyundai SS5
Thierry Neuville Hyundai SS1
Francois Delecour M-Sport Ford SS1
Martin Prokop Czech Ford SS1
Leading power stage times:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jari-Matti Latvala VW 10m41.5s
2. Sebastien Ogier VW +0.2s
3. Kris Meeke Citroen +4.9s
4. Bryan Bouffier M-Sport Ford +17.9s
5. Andreas Mikkelsen VW +19.7s