Triple World Rally Championship celebration for Ford

Other major retirements included Mattias Ekström (Skoda), who crashed out of fifth on the opening stage, and team-mate Andreas Aigner who retired with engine problems.

Petter Solberg's (Subaru) troubles continued when he dropped more than eight minutes on the penultimate stage after stalling at the start. A faulty starter motor delayed his restart. He finished but was excluded for not clearing the start control in time.

And just for the record

The winningest marque in WRC history is still Lancia with 73 wins, miles ahead of Ford’s 50 wins with Peugeot (48), Subaru (44) Toyota (43), Mitsubishi (34), Citroen (26), Audi (24) and Fizt 21 all in close attendamce. The final spot on the all-time top-ten goes to Renault with its famous Alpine (12).

Next round

Teams make their first long-haul journey of the year next month for the season's first gravel event. The Rally Mexico is based in Leon on 2 - 6 March.

Final positions

1. M Grönholm (Fin) / T Rautiainen (Fin) : Ford Focus RS 3hr 09min 01.9sec 2. S Loeb (Fra) / D Elena (Mon) : Citroen Xsara +0:30.9 3. D Carlsson (Swe) / B Holmstrand (Swe) : Mitsubishi Lancer +2:56.8 4. G Galli (Ita) / G Bernacchini (Ita) : Mitsubishi Lancer +3:03.8 5. T Rådström (Swe) / J Skallman (Swe) : Subaru Impreza +5:53.3 6. K Katajamäki (Fin) / T Alane (Fin) : Ford Focus RS +7:34.8 7. X Pons (Esp) / C Del Barrio (Esp) : Citroen Xsara +8:35.6 8. H Solberg (Nor) / C Menkerud (Nor) : Peugeot 307 +9:01.5

...continued