"It's always a big honour to win here," he said. "We've had three perfect days. The car worked like a dream and we made no mistakes. Over the course of the whole rally we were quicker than our rivals and we did not take unnecessary risks. We have increased our lead in the championship a bit and everything is heading in the right direction."
The final day though was not without controversy and
Mikko Hirvonen, who had been second pretty much throughout, slipped to fifth in the first test on Sunday, when he picked up a puncture.
With
Petter Solberg also hitting problems in the next test though, Mikko gained a place and that left the way clear for the 'Blue Oval' to play with the final order and team boss Malcolm Wilson subsequently instructed both Duval and
Jari-Matti Latvala to let Hirvonen by.
Prior to the final test, the 26.32 kilometre Pietra Rossa-Verghia stage, Duval checked into the time control early and picked up a two minute penalty, while Latvala also purposely picked up a penalty by arriving at SS16 nine minutes late. Mikko thus moved up from fourth to second and scores 8 points, as opposed to the 5 he would have got for fourth.
"It's not the way you want to get to the podium," Mikko admitted, "But in the end I understand the team's point. They want to keep the Championship alive. This is the way they want to play it, so I accept it."
Duval and Latvala both echoed that view: "My role was to help the team and so it made perfect sense for me to help Mikko here," Francois continued. "This was a tough rally and I've had to work hard for third, but that's how I like it."
"This is a fantastic result for me here and definitely my best ever on tarmac; I could have been on the podium, but the important thing is to keep Ford in with a chance of becoming champions again," Jari-Matti added. "I have had two great results in two weeks - and no-one can take that away from me."
