It was just as well Latvala had built that lead, though, as on stage 22 he struck a rock and picked up a right-front puncture, leaving him only eight seconds in front of Hirvonen.

The incident left Latvala kicking himself and anxious to regain his focus, but it didn't take him long to regain control, as he quickly pulled away again - Hirvonen's tyres being too worn to let him truly fight - and went on to win by 16.6 seconds and collect a Power Stage bonus point too.

"It is amazing. Four years ago I won this rally and now I got it again," he said. "The first time I won this rally I became the youngest ever winner of a world championship rally and beat my hero Henri Toivonen's record. It's fantastic to win it again. We got a lot of pressure after Monte and I felt the pressure coming to this event. This has taken a lot of pressure out of the coming events. I think we're really going to challenge Citroen. We're working very hard."

Hirvonen said he still had plenty to be pleased with despite just missing out on the win. "It's not too bad. I think we learned a lot this weekend," he said. "Okay, I really did want to win this rally for the team but Jari-Matti was very strong this weekend. We had a fantastic fight and I really enjoyed it, but it's second this time."

Incredibly both factory Fords suffered tyre damage on the same rock on stage 22. While it ultimately didn't cost Latvala any positions, for Petter Solberg the delay was enough to see him lose third place to Mads Ostberg after a rally-long battle. The Adapta Ford driver had been getting ever closer to Solberg even before the incident, though it made his quest rather easier.

"Third place this time is like second place last time, it's a very good result," said Ostberg. "I was not able to fight Jari-Matti and Mikko this year. There's only one posiiton left on the podium [first] and we'll try to get that next year."

Sebastien Loeb retained the championship lead by finishing sixth and winning the Power Stage. After his multiple delays earlier in the weekend, Loeb just had to consolidate his points finish today, with Evgeny Novikov putting on an early charge to make sure there was no chance of the Citroen number one catching him for fifth.

Henning Solberg tried his best to hang on to Loeb today but knew it was realistically a forlorn hope. He settled for seventh in the Go Fast Ford.

Patrik Sandell quickly pulled clear of Martin Prokop's Czech Ford this morning to ensure he finished eighth in the leading MINI. "Overall it was a perfect weekend for me," said Sandell. "It's been absolutely fabulous. I really like this car. It's fantastic to drive. We've been adapting step by step and now we are setting good times."

Ostberg's team-mate Eyvind Brynildsen completed a quietly impressive World Rally Car debut by claiming the final point.

Just outside the top 10, the intra-team battle between Volkswagen Motorsport Skoda duo Sebastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen was emphatically resolved in the former's favour when Mikkelsen picked up a puncture on the same stage 22 rock as the works Fords.

And finally, news of the UK and Irish Teams on the 60th Rally Sweden, 9th to 12th February 2102.…

On the 60th running of the 2012 Swedish Rally - the only true winter rally in the FIA World Rally Championship - the Cumbria-based M-Sport team celebrated their 50th WRC victory with Ford since their partnership began in 1997.

Victory went to Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikka Antilla despite a last-minute set back when a tyre deflated after hitting a rock in Stage 22.

The very same rock denied their team-mates, Norway's Petter Solberg and his northern Ireland Co-driver Chris Patterson, a potential third pace in their Ford Fiesta WRC.

Between the Ford pairings they won 10 of the 24 timed special stages and if the performances of Mads Ostberg and Ott Tanak are added in, Fiesta WRC's claimed 15 stage wins.

The Pro-drive prepared MINI John Cooper Works WRC of Spain's Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio were fastest on SS1 but their rally ended in SS8 with engine damage; the consequence of going off the road into a snow bank.

Waterford's Craig Breen, winner of the inaugural FIA WRC Academy Cup in 2011, along with his Welsh co-driver Gareth Roberts claimed 16th place overall and second in the Super 2000 category to Sweden's Per-Gunnar Andersson. For the Fiesta driver this second place, along with his category win in Monte Carlo, keeps the 21-year old at the top of the SWRC points table, 18 ahead of the considerable more experienced Andersson.

"I'm delighted with the result, but first I want to congratulate P-G Andersson on his win; he suffered horrible luck on the 'Monte' when he retired with only two stages to go. For myself I am very pleased with this result. P-G is on home (ground) and has shown some incredible speed here over the three days. I have managed to score a few fastest stage times myself and I'm happy with my overall pace" said Breen at the Finish in Karlstad.

Australia-based Scot Alistair McRae, teamed with P-G Andesson in the Proton Satria S2000 Team, returned to the World Rally Championship for the first time in five years and to this event for the first time in eight years. Unfortunately for McRae and co-driver Bill Hayes the exploration of two of Sweden's deepest snow banks cost them both time and positions. Eventually they finished 37th overall and seventh in the SWRC category.

"I think it's fair to say that this wasn't my rally! The back of the car touched a bank on the third stage and this just pulled the car into the snow. There was nothing we could do, it was well in there. The annoying thing is that, as soon as some spectators arrived, we had the car out in 30 seconds and it was completely undamaged. We had a similar problem on the second day, but this time we got the car out sooner and carried on in the stage. It was frustrating, but it was also great to be back and driving in the world championship again. There's no doubting this is one of the best rallies around and to drive the PROTON down the snow and ice roads like that was fantastic. Fortunately for us, we were able to make it through to the finish to make some points, but obviously P-G's win is great news for the team."

Wexford's Eamonn Boland and Michael Morrissey, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10, were classified 35th out of the 42 finishers.

Matt Wilson broke his ankle in training immediately prior to leaving for Sweden, so his place in the 'Go Fast' team was filled by Ott Tanak.

The next and third round of the 13 round FIA World Rally Championship is Rally Guanjuato Mexico www.rallymexico.com starting in Guanjuato City on Thursday 8th March.

Ends