[3] The most newsworthy entry of all was that of 2008 Moto GP champion Valentino Rossi[4] who was competing in a Ford Focus WRC complete with a Children in Need livery.

[6] The rally began in tricky conditions with ice and heavy rain making the roads very slippery and fog hampering the competitors' visibility.

On the same stage, Production World Rally Championship leader Juho Hänninen retired after his drive shaft broke, leaving Andreas Aigner to take the title if he finishes the event in the top three.

After day one, Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala led from Citroën's Sébastien Loeb, Suzuki's Per-Gunnar Andersson and Subaru privateer Mads Østberg.

Valentino Rossi was making progress after a very steady start and was now in fifteenth position - ahead of WRC regulars such as Khalid Al-Qassimi and Conrad Rautenbach.

Loeb had been told by Citroën boss Olivier Quesnel to push for the victory as a third place for Sordo would be enough to clinch the manufacturers title.

Loeb was then initially handed a ten-second time penalty for a jump start at SS18 [13] which meant that Latvala took a slender advantage of 2.2 seconds into the last stage.

However, Loeb's pace was too strong and a further stage win meant that he won the rally by 12.7 seconds after his earlier time penalty was rescinded.

Rossi continued his progression and finished in twelfth position, earning praise from Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson.