Kankkunen's triumph ends five-year losing streak

He has not won a round of the World Rally Championship since the Rally of Portugal in 1994, while his Prodrive Subaru team has gone a year without success.

The four-time champion was the most successful rally driver of all-time until Carlos Sainz overhauled his 21-win total last year.

Kankkunen's success today means he is now equal with the Spaniard once more.

The long gap between Kankkunen's 21st and 22nd victories is not entirely his fault. His Toyota team was disqualified from the 1996 season after they were found to be running illegal air-restrictors, leaving Kankkunen with a miniscule programme in semi-works cars.

He returned mid-way through 1997 with Ford, but was strictly number two to Carlos Sainz, team orders meaning he had to sacrifice two potential victories to help Sainz's title bid.

Since then he has been stuck in uncompetitive cars, until now.

With rumours suggesting Subaru may pull out of the WRC, Kankkunen's victory is extremely timely.

Both the Drivers' and Manufacturers' titles seem out of reach already, but this result salvages some pride for the Prodrive team.