The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena took victory in Rally Finland today, the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila claimed second for Ford after a close battle with third-placed Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia.In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb extends his advantage and now sits 27 points ahead of Mikko Hirvonen. Ogier maintains third, just four points further adrift. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroën continues to head Ford.The final day of competition - the longest of the event - took the crews over 11 traditional stages and 140.05 competitive kilometres, concluding with the 4.19 kilometre Laajavuori Power Stage, in which additional points are awarded to the fastest three drivers through this single stage. Here, Hirvonen claimed honours and an additional three points, with Latvala and Ogier taking two and one point extra respectively.Loeb started the day potentially handicapped by running first on the road. However damp conditions ensured the Frenchman could maintain his advantage, largely unchallenged, going on to win for the second time in Finland. Pushing throughout the day and battling with Ogier, Latvala climbed from third to second, benefiting when his rival suffered a puncture and had to continue to the finish cautiously due to the fact he was only carrying one spare wheel. Behind the leading trio, Hirvonen continued to power up the leaderboard, overhauling Petter Solberg to finish an impressive fourth after losing over two minutes on the opening day. Leading retirements of the day included the MINI John Cooper Works WRCs of both Dani Sordo and Kris Meeke. Both were withdrawn by the team late this afternoon to avoid further damage after sand and dust in the radiators caused overheating problems. The ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews to Trier for Rallye Deutschland (18-21 August).Rally Finland – Final Results (subject to final scrutineering)

1.   Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena2.   Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila3.   Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia4.   Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen5.   Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson6.   Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson7.   Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor8.   Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin9.   Kimi Räikkönen/Kaj Lindström10. Juho Hanninen/Mikko Markkula Citroën DS3 WRC