Sebastien Loeb of France won the Rally of Finland for the first time on Sunday to move one point behind Mikko Hirvonen in the world championship standings.
Loeb finished nine seconds ahead of Finland's Hirvonen with Australia's Chris Atkinson in third.
Loeb, 34, survived a scare early on Sunday when his C4 spun off the track during the penultimate special stage.
The Frenchman led all the way, winning 15 of the 24 specials, for the 42nd victory of his career.
He became the eighth non-Finnish driver to win the rally in 58 editions.
"It was a great fight all week," Loeb said. "You had to be careful not to miss any junctions, and to not go over the limit.
"It's fantastic, an incredible feeling, winning here in Finland means so much to me.
"I desperately wanted to win this rally. Getting a win here was more important to me than just getting points.
"It's been a very hard battle with Mikko all weekend with no chance to relax. He did a great job - I've had to fight for every second."
Hirvonen admitted that Loeb had deserved his victory and is looking forward to the battle for the championship.
"I'm pleased with the speed we had but 'Seb' was able to find a few more seconds and in the end that's all he needed to win," said the Finn.
"The championship fight is not over, but of course all the rallies coming up are more important now. It's not over yet."
The event was the ninth in the 15-race World Rally Championship series, with the next taking place in Germany on the weekend of 15 August.
Hirvonen leads the table with 67 points, one ahead of four-time world champion Loeb.
Rally of Finland final standings:
1. Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen C4 2hr 54min 05.5sec
2. Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford Focus at 9.0sec
3. Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru Impreza 3:17.0
4. Dani Sordo (Spa) Citroen C4 3:30.9
5. Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford Focus 3:57.7
6. Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru Impreza 4:04.1
7. Matti Rantanen (Fin) Ford Focus 6:11.1
8. Toni Gardemeister (Fin) Suzuki SX4 8:18.7
9. Matthew Wilson (Gbr) Ford Focus 8:37.3
10. Conrad Rautenbach (Zim) Ford Focus 10:30.9\
Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk