JWRC: Wilks heads Suzuki 1-2.

Britain's Guy Wilks took the FIA Junior World Rally Championship win on the Rally Finland on Sunday, heading home a Suzuki one-two, the first for the Swift since making its debut last year on this very event.

Wilks took the lead in the Junior class on Saturday, after Kris Meeke went out on the middle loop. The Englishman won seven of the eight stages on day two and went into the final day more than 2 minutes up on his team-mate, Per-Gunnar Andersson. Wilks and P-G took two wins a piece on Sunday, with the Brit concluding the event with a 2 minute 37.5 second advantage.

"Fantastic! I'm absolutely delighted with this result, although Sunday has been quite nerve-wracking! I concentrated on getting the car safely to the finish after what has been a very tough and very fast rally," said Wilks. "We've had no mechanical issues at all, and I'd like to thank everybody at Suzuki for building a car that is reliable as it is quick.

"We've got the momentum behind us now, so we need to focus on doing another equally good job on the next two rounds of the championship. I'm sure we have the capability to do it."

The result moved Wilks up into third in the JWRC standings, while Andersson's runners-up spot has put him top, with 29 points, one more than Patrik Sandell, who drops to second and who could only pick up two points this weekend, after bringing his Renault Clio S1600 home in seventh.

"Finland is a really special event: three days of flat-out driving on stages that are so exciting for both drivers and spectators. This year was really difficult because of the rain on the first day and the really rough conditions throughout all three days. We lost a bit of time with punctures, but I'm very happy with second place as it allows us to take the lead of the championship again," noted Andersson. "There's everything to play for now - I can't wait!"

Matti Rantanen meanwhile completed the JWRC podium in his Honda Civic Type R, with Julien Pressac fourth - the best placed of the Citroen C2 runners. Pressac did well considering it was his first time competing in Finland and as such he had to get acquaint with the event, the fastest in the championship.

"After the first couple of stages on Sunday I knew I wouldn't be able to close the gap to the driver ahead of me [in third]," he noted. "I consequently chose to play it safe while still remaining totally focused because the stages were in a really poor state second time through."

Further-down the order, Suzuki Ignis duo, Jozef Beres and Jaan Molder were fifth and sixth respectively, separated by more than one minute, while Martin Prokop finished behind Sandell and picked up the final championship point for eighth.

In total 13 of the 18 runners that were eligible to score points in the JWRC in Finland finished, with Ford Fiesta runner, Barry Clark ninth followed by Andrea Cortinovis, Conrad Rautenbach, Pavel Valousek and Kalle Pinomaki in 10th-13th respectively.

Meeke was the most notable runner not to make it to the end, but Michal Kosciuszko also had problems and retired at the end of day one with mechanical issues, while Fabien Fiandino, who was standing in for the injured Brice Tirabassi crashed out in the very last test.

"I hadn't really noted the spot as a caution in my notes," said Fiandino, who was giving the Citroen C2-R2 it debut in the JWRC. "My concentration dipped a little and I unfortunately put my wheels off the clear line. The car immediately began to fishtail and, as it careered down the stage, we hit a rock which sent us into a roll. I am so disappointed for everyone in the team. Our C2-R2 had worked perfectly until then. It's such a shame! Happily, Sabrina [de Castelli - my co-driver] and I came out of it unscathed. Just a few aches and bruises, but nothing serious."

Suzuki's Urmo Aava and Opel Astra runner, Filippo Bordignon were also not classified, after being excluded at the end of day one.

The JWRC now takes a one month break, before battle resumes on the Rally of Turkey, which runs from October 13-15.