Esapekka Lappi on his way to victory. Photo / Getty Images
Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville finished fifth and drew level with four-time defending world champion Sebastien Ogier for the lead in the championship as the Frenchman watched on after his opening day crash.
"We set out to score more than Ogier this weekend, and we were able to achieve that," the Belgian said. "We had a very difficult weekend so to salvage some points is crucial. The power stage was a key moment, as we scored three vital extra points to move to the top of the championship.
"This levels the playing field with four events left of the season, so it has been an important result.
"We know everyone is pushing hard to keep us in contention, so we have to put this complicated rally behind us and look forward to Germany, the team's home event, where we know from the past that we can perform well."
Kiwi Hayden Paddon suffered trouble on the third consecutive day. His car failed to turn on the final stage and slid wide, damaging the rear of the car. He made it through the final test
"It has been one of those weekends for us," the 30-year-old said. "After our retirements on Friday and Saturday, we wanted to approach these final stages in a positive manner and to get some time behind the wheel.
"This rally has perfectly illustrated our season, where anything that can go wrong does go wrong.
"The power stage was another example, when the car unexpectedly went straight on at a third gear corner. Still, we got to the end of the rally and I am sure, one day in the future, we will look back and laugh at our bad luck this year.
"I am sure we could have fought for the podium this weekend, and that is the positive that we will take away."
Final Standings Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) Elfyn Evans (Ford) +36.0s Juho Hanninen (Toyota) +36.3s Teemu Suninen (Ford) +1:01.5s Craig Breen (Citroen) +1:22.6s Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) +1:33.1s
