Former World Rally champion Marcus Gronholm took another win in Finland on Saturday when he came out top in a special rallysprint competition in Jyvaskyla.

Gronholm, who drove a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, faced opposition from some 50 competitors - mostly specialists of the rallysprint discipline, including four-time Finnish champion Tomi Hallia, who made a come-back just to be able to challenge the rally superstar.

The competition took place on the same 2 kilometre Killeri track, which hosted the WRC event's Superspecial Stage on Thursday and Friday.

As in the rally superspecial stage, two cars ran on adjacent lanes in each heat and all the competitors first participated in qualifying runs against the clock. The fastest eight from each category then proceed into elimination run-offs, with the winners eventually pitched in a duel in the finals.

Speaking after beating Hallia in the final, Gronholm was delighted with his latest success on home turf.

“It's always nice to win in Jyvaskyla,” Gronholm reflected. “This was fun and the competition was exciting. I didn't make any mistakes so this was a very positive surprise.”