"It is very disappointing not to finish this event," said Baldacci. "I had gone so well in the fast stages yesterday and the day before, I really think we could have won here. Okay, this is the way the sport is sometimes."

Further down the order, Fumio Nutahara took sixth, having re-started on Sunday under the SupeRally. He went off on day two in SS8 and that effectively ended his title challenge.

"It was so slippery in some places today," said Nutahara. "It would have been easy to go off the road again I have had to remain concentrating very hard! The car and the tyres have worked well. The rain makes the stages very slippery, but at the same time, I think that is the condition which is best for us and our tyres. I have enjoyed this rally very much. I am very disappointed with what happened yesterday, but these things happen in the sport. Nasser Al-Attiyah has driven well this season and he is a good champion. Second place in the championship and three wins in the Production race is good for me."

Al-Attiyah was seventh at the finish after he was forced to retire from the third leg in SS13, when his engine gave up the ghost. As he had a six point lead coming into the event though he was always the favourite to take the title and was extremely happy to have pulled it off, even if he did have to watch the final four stages from the sidelines.

“We had a very strange day today as we stopped with problems and then we just had to sit and watch! Our plan was to score good points and to finish so it really didn't go according to plan, but Nutahara had problems too,” he stated. “I feel sorry for Nutahara – he's a good driver with a nice approach and we've had a good fight this year. But this was the third year of my three year plan and we achieved our goal – to become PCWRC champions!”

Of the rest only two other drivers' were classified, Nigel Heath taking the final PCWRC point in eighth. Heath chose to contest the rally in a Mitsubishi, the first time he has driven one since 1998, and he ran on Michelin tyres, also a first. But the self confessed 'gentleman driver' enjoyed his rally, despite being sidelined temporarily on leg two after a small accident and the Brit took the last available point.

Toshi Arai was ninth, after having missed all of Saturday's action due to a technical problem. He struggled with a broken gearbox on the final road section though and that cost him a place on the leader-board. Nevertheless however, he recorded a string of stage wins on the final day scoring the highest number of stage victories throughout the season and finished top of the PCWRC 'Sprinter Standings', handing over his PCWRC title to Al-Attiyah in style.

Former New Zealand champion Chris West had a difficult rally experiencing punctures, a soft suspension and losing his place in his notes, and that was all on leg one. Unfortunately his rally came to a premature end after he rolled his Subaru on the tricky SS8.

Natalie Barratt had a difficult rally with an electrical problem causing the car to stop mid-stage on leg one. She retired on the final day in SS14 after hitting a rock and damaging the gearbox.

“We approached a spot [in SS14] in fifth gear. There was no way to avoid the rock or else we would have found ourselves in the middle of the woods. Thus we hit the rock straight on,” she explained. “I immediately realised that the gearbox had been struck. I wasn't able to change gears and smoke rose from the engine bay. Thus we had to retire. It is a real pity since scoring points would definitely have been possible.”