Valimaki stunned by fifth place

The Mitsubishi privateer went into SS18 in sixth, just 10 seconds ahead of the fast-closing Petter Solberg. As he pushed to hold onto the position, Valimaki made a series of mistakes, but with both works Subarus hitting trouble in the stage, he actually gained a position rather than losing one.

"I stalled the engine once, and once we spun and went off," Valimaki said.

"I was thinking, 'that's it'. I think that I was just trying too much. So we lost about 20 seconds on the stage, but it looks like many drivers had problems."

The event marked Valimaki's return to the World Rally Championship after a long absence. The Finn briefly drove for the works Hyundai team in 2003, but the Korean manufacturer's withdrawal left him in the wilderness. Valimaki then spent a while in his national series, before winning the 2005 Asia-Pacific Championship.

He has found the sponsorship to contest the Italian and Greek rounds of this year's WRC in the Mitsubishi, a car that he had very little experience of prior to this weekend.

"I'm happy to finish fifth. Our speed isn't what it should be, I need a few more rallies," said Valimaki. "Unfortunately we're not going to have any testing before Greece.

"But overall the result is perfect."