Sebastien Loeb secured his sixth win of the season after a commanding and flawless drive throughout the three days of the 2012 Neste Oil Rally Finland.
The Frenchman had to resist late pressure from Citroen teammate Mikko Hirvonen, who went fastest on the final Ouninpohja stage, to win the Rally by a margin of 6 seconds.
Loeb and Hirvonen were in a league of their own, while Ford drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg struggled for pace; the former finished 3rd in front of his home crowd, 21 seconds clear of his teammate.
Mads Ostberg, meanwhile, suffered a drive shaft problem on the final day but charged back to reclaim fifth from Ott Tanak. Evgeny Novikov and Thierry Neuville’s hopes of a Top 6 finish were ruined as both drivers crashed out.
Matti Rantanen, Jari Ketomaa, Martin Prokop and Sebastien Ogier completed the remaining top 10 spots.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 2h28m11.4s 2. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 6.1s 3. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 35.0s 4. Petter Solberg Ford + 56.1s 5. Mads Ostberg Adapta Ford + 2m32.1s 6. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford + 2m47.6s 7. Matti Rantanen M-Sport Ford + 4m51.7s 8. Jari Ketomaa Autotek Ford + 6m01.9s 9. Martin Prokop Czech Ford + 6m04.3s 10. Sebastien Ogier VW Skoda + 8m46.0s