Valentino Rossi of Italy takes a jump in his Subaru Impreza WRC on Special Stage 5 during the first leg of the Rally of New Zealand, near Hamilton, last Sunday. - REUTERS

SYDNEY, Nov 19 (Reuters):

Finland's Marcus Gronholm captured the Rally of New Zealand last Sunday, providing his Ford team with their first manufacturers' championship in 27 years.

Gronholm led the three-day, 17-stage rally from start to finish to claim his sixth rally this year and confirm his place as runner-up in the drivers' championship behind absent Frenchman Sebastien Loeb. "It's a great feeling to win the rally and secure the world title on the same day," Gronholm told reporters. "The manufacturer's title was always on my mind, I thought a lot about not making a mistake and looking stupid."

Gronholm's teammate and compatriot, Mikko Hirvonen, finished second in New Zealand, 56 seconds behind the winner, with Austria's Manfred Stohl claiming third place in his Peugeot, a further one minute 43.3 seconds adrift.

Italian MotoGP ace Valentino Rossi finished 11th in New Zealand, after failing to progress beyond the first day at his only previous appearance in 2002 at the British rally.

"I'm satisfied I arrived at the end without problems and no damage," Rossi said.

The New Zealand Rally was the penultimate round of this year's world championship. The final rally will be held in Wales next week.