The Finns had been cruising to first place when a heavy impact on Saturday afternoon left their Polo R WRC with only three working brakes and meant they started Sunday’s trio of stages with a significantly reduced margin of 3.4 seconds.

That gap increased to a slightly more comfortable five seconds when Latvala outgunned Ogier through the first visit to Ruuhimäki this morning. But Ogier hit back on the very next run, the spectacular jump-filled Myhinpää test, where Latvala reported difficulty hearing his co-driver’s pace notes due to an intercom glitch.

Starting the final Ruuhimäki test, which also counted as the Power Stage, Latvala’s lead was down to a slender 3.7s. However, he made it through the 6.79-kilometre run with his advantage still intact to record a popular home victory by 3.6s as Ogier claimed the three bonus points on offer for topping the Power Stage.

Latvala joins Finnish legends Timo Salonen and Ari Vatanen as a two-time winner of the event. And his victory and capture of two Power Stage bonus points means he has narrowed Ogier’s title lead to 44 points with five rounds remaining.

”It was really, really hard to get this victory but it was a brilliant performance and this is such a great feeling,” said Latvala, who said earlier that he wanted to win for the Finnish fans. ”Everything was going perfectly and I had a fantastic feeling but then the problems yesterday put us in a difficult position and I was almost losing it. But we really fight back and I had to be careful on a couple of corners towards the end.”

Ogier was magnanimous in defeat to his team-mate for the third time this season. ”I have had so much pleasure driving on these roads,” said the reigning world champion and last year’s Finland winner. ”I knew victory would be gone unless Jari made a mistake because it was impossible to make a difference. He was stronger than me but second is still fantastic after a great fight.”

Kris Meeke excelled to take third for Citroën, 12 months after his Rally Finland ended in a huge crash on the legendary Ouninpohja stage. It’s the third time that the Briton has finished on the podium in 2014. ”A podium is pretty special on one of the biggest rallies of them all,” said Meeke. ”Third will do but I’m still not near perfection. Jari-Matti has been the epitome of perfection in how to drive a rally car on these roads so I have to keep trying for perfection.”

Behind Meeke, Andreas Mikkelsen maintained his third place in the drivers’ standings in fourth place with Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen fifth for M-Sport. Hayden Paddon started day four in sixth place but slipped back when his Hyundai’s powersteering faltered. The New Zealander’s misfortunate handed the position to his team-mate Juho Hänninen, who fought back from a roll on day two to complete the top six. Elfyn Evans also took advantage of Paddon’s woes to finish seventh with Paddon eventually making it home in eighth. Henning Solberg and WRC2 winner Karl Kruuda rounded out the top 10.

Craig Breen made it through the first Ruuhimäki stage in ninth overall but a suspected back injury meant he would go no further while he received medical assistance. Ex-Formula One racer Robert Kubica opened the road for the second day running and gained more useful experience but was outside of the point-scoring places.

While Kruuda’s efforts ruled out a WRC2 triumph for Finland’s Jari Ketomaa, Teemu Suninen claimed a debut WRC3 success after he overhauled long-term leader and JWRC winner Martin Koči, who picked up a three-minute penalty following problems in service last night.

Suninen was competing on Neste Oil Rally Finland as his prize for winning a coveted award pledged by AKK Sports, the promoter of Finland’s WRC counter and the Finnish championship, to unearth his country’s latest talent. Fellow Finn Henri Haapamäki, whom Suninen defeated in the selection process, also impressed and was the highest-placed two-wheel-drive contender prior to the final stage. With Latvala winning outright and two of his young countrymen emerging on the world stage, Finnish rallying is set for an exciting future.

Stage winners
SS1, Lankamaa 1 (23.44): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS2, Jouhtikylä (10.36): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS3, Lankamaa 2 (23.44): Ogier/Ingrassia and Latvala/Anttila (both Polo R WRC)
SS4, Harju 1 (2.27): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS5, Pihlajakoski 1 (14.51): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS6, Päijälä 1 (23.38): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS7, Kakaristo 1 (20.51): Meeke/Nagle (Citroën DS3 WRC)
SS8, Painaa 1 (7.70): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS9, Pihlajakoski 2 (14.51): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS10, Päijälä 2 (23.38): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS11, Kakaristo 2 (20.51): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS12, Painaa 2 (7.70): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS13, Harju 2 (2.27): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS14, Mökkiperä 1 (13.84): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS15, Jukojärvi 1 (21.93): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS16, Surkee 1 (14.95): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS17, Himos 1 (4.45): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS18, Leustu 1 (10,01): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS19, Mökkiperä 2 (13.84): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS20, Jukojärvi 2 (21.93): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS21, Surkee 2 (14.95): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS22, Himos 2 (4.45): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS23, Leustu 2 (10,01): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS24, Ruuhimäki 1 (6.79): Latvala/Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS25, Myhinpää (23.02): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)
SS26, Ruuhimäki 2 (6.79): Ogier/Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)

Day four in numbers
3: Latvala’s win was his third victory in the WRC this year and his second in Finland
3.6: After 360.94 kilometres of timed stages, Latvala’s winning margin was 3.6s
44: Ogier might now have won but he heads the WRC standings by 44 points
19: Tänak scored 19 WRC2 stage wins although early woes left him third in class
2003: Prior to Meeke’s third place this year, Richard Burns was the last Briton to finish on the Finland podium back in 2003

What’s next in the WRC?
The 2014 FIA World Rally Championship resumes with the all-asphalt ADAC Rallye Deutschland from 21-24 August.