"It has been very good rally. I tried hard to keep third place all weekend but I think I have to work harder on myself to keep in the top three for next year," Henning admitted.

Petter, who struggled on days 1 and 2, finished the event on a high with the quickest time in the last test, the 6.46 km Ruuhimaki stage. 'Hollywood' knows though that there is still a lot of work to be done with the new Impreza - at least for him anyway.

"It has been a tough rally and a weekend full of problems, especially yesterday which was unbelievable," noted the 2003 world champion. "Everybody has been working flat out to get the car competitive but it just wasn't good enough. Next rally is tarmac so it will be very tough but we really hope we can be on the case."

Ford privateer Matti Rantanen and Toni Gardemeister completed the points' scorers in seventh and eighth respectively, the former running strongly throughout his home event. Indeed Rantanen posted 15 top-ten stage times and described his run as 'unbelievable'.

"I am very happy. It has been a dream weekend and I hope I have shown how fast I have been. I hope to be in the WRC next year but I just have to get the money together first," he noted. "I am very happy to have won the Spirit of the Rally Award too."

Gardemeister also had a pretty good run in the updated 'B-spec' SX4 WRC and despite injuring his shoulder on day 1, following a jump, took the final drivers' point and two manufacturers' points. It was only his third finish from nine events.

"The rally has been good for us with more development experience on the car and some points for the team," said Toni. "To finish in the top ten is a really good feeling for Suzuki."

Britain's Matthew Wilson and Citroen privateer Conrad Rautenbach were ninth and tenth, with BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT 'third' driver Khalid Al-Qassimi eleventh, albeit more than 3 minutes off P10.

"Ninth overall is a good result for us and better than last year," said Wilson Jr. "It has been a tough weekend but we have enjoyed it and have set some good times."

"It has been a really good weekend and a great learning experience. It is so great to be at the finish and I have managed to keep out of problems," added Rautenbach. "We have worked on our pace-notes and feel we are better prepared now. I am looking forward to Germany."