The Stobart M-Sport Ford team kept up their remarkable record of scoring manufacturer points at every round of this season's World Rally Championship as Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson produced a strong finish to the season at Rally Great Britain.

Solberg finished fifth overall, his best-ever result at this event, with Wilson one place further back, finishing as top British driver and equalling his best performance on his home event. The result also confirms Wilson's best-ever finish to a WRC season as he claims seventh in the drivers' championship, one place behind Solberg.

With a new home for rally HQ in Cardiff Bay, many of the stages remained unchanged from previous years, incorporating classic Welsh forest stages which provided the perfect backdrop for the thrilling climax of the WRC season. Huge crowds flocked to the Welsh capital on Thursday night for the spectacular ceremonial start where all of the crews got a fantastic reception.

Solberg, battling his brother Petter for position in the drivers' championship, had a difficult start to the rally as his Ford Focus RS WRC developed a misfire on the very first stage, causing the Norwegian and co-driver Cato Menkerud to lose over a minute on the leaders.

But as the 62 starters tackled 130kms of fast and slippery stages in mid-Wales, the Norwegian managed to improve his times despite the recurring engine problem, climbing from ninth to sixth by the end of the day.

Wilson and co-driver Scott Martin had a heart-stopping moment in the first stage as their windscreen wipers stopped, leaving them at the mercy of the heavy rain and muddy roads. Thankfully the problem was only temporary, but the young Brit suffered throughout the day with handling problems as his car lacked traction, particularly in the slow corners.

With only a short 15-minute service at Builth Wells there was little that the team could do to investigate Solberg and Wilson's problems, but the technicians worked hard overnight to make sure that the cars were in perfect condition for the start of Day Two.

The longest day of the event at 138.16kms, Saturday also turned out to be the toughest of the rally as the autumnal Welsh weather continued to batter the hillsides, leaving standing water on the stages and slippery, muddy conditions on the forest roads which tested their gravel tyres to the maximum.

Solberg set out to chase down Sebastien Ogier but he found it hard to stay on the pace of the Frenchman early on and was hit badly on the final stage of the morning's three-stage loop as their windscreen wipers struggled to cope with the constant barrage of rain. He maintained his sixth place at the end of the day.

Wilson meanwhile set out to rebuild his confidence after Friday's serious handling problems and produced a solid and reliable performance throughout the day despite the treacherous conditions out on the stages.

While other crews suffered on the final day of the rally, slipping off the roads on the tests to the north-west of Cardiff, both Solberg and Wilson maintained their consistency and reaped the rewards as Ogier slid off the road on the penultimate stage of the rally, advancing Solberg to fifth and Wilson to sixth.

"We've witnessed a very strong finish to the year for the Stobart team on their home event," said Team Principal Malcolm Wilson. "This was a tough rally and after the problems on the first day, both crews have really got to grips with the conditions.

"I'm pleased to see Matthew and Scott improving on their home rally and it just demonstrates that his plan and approach is working; this is his best-ever championship finish. Henning has done a solid job too and it caps off a great season for the squad," Wilson concluded.