Fiat Grande Punto JTD pilot Marco Cavigioli in the has won the inaugural IRC 2WD Cup by finishing third in the two-wheel drive class on the China Rally; the Italian driver did not put a foot wrong throughout the event to seal the title.

Marco Cavigioli has won the inaugural IRC 2WD Cup by finishing third in the two-wheel drive class on the all-gravel China Rally this afternoon. The Italian Fiat Punto diesel driver did not put a foot wrong throughout all three days of the rally, and he now claims a well-deserved title after an emotional and exciting weekend of action.

Cavigioli headed to the China Rally needing to finish in the top four of the two-wheel drive runners in order to claim the inaugural IRC 2WD Cup. With Honda driver Alessandro Bettega leading the classification by three points, but choosing not to make the long trip to China, the final round of the IRC was a huge opportunity for Cavigioli.

After a slow start in the superspecial, the Italian eventually worked his way up to a potential title-winning third place in class by the end of the opening day. On the final day, today, Cavigioli concentrated on maintaining his position which he held to the finish, claiming an emotional IRC 2WD Cup victory. Local Honda driver Jianrong Yan won the class in China ahead of the Volkswagen Polo of Xiong Xie.

"It's been an amazing rally," said Cavigioli. "We've had some bad luck in the past this year, but this title victory means that we can now put it all behind us. I look forward to celebrating our title now!" Fiat also took second spot in the manufacturers' 2WD cup, finishing with 64 points to Honda's 60 points. The title was claimed up Peugeot with 86 points.

Overall, the China Rally was won by flying Finn Jarkko Miettinen in a Mitsubishi, after his key rival and compatriot Juha Salo retired his similar car on the final afternoon. In second place was another Mitsubishi driven by local man Liu Caodong, while the similar car of Jun Xu was third.

This year’s IRC series concluded once more with the China Rally, which was held at an all-new venue this year: Shaowu, close to Fuzhou city. The highlight of the China Rally this year was a battle between two Finnish stars: Juha Salo and Jarkko Miettinen, both driving Mitsubishis.

The event opened up with a huge spectator superspecial just outside the city of Shaowu. After the opening superspecial stage, Miettinen - the reigning Romanian Champion – took the lead but his key rival, Salo, was not about to settle for second. Once the real action got underway, on the red and dusty roads of the Shaowu region, Salo blasted into the lead – pulling out an advantage of more than half a minute over his compatriot at the end of the opening day.

Local driver Liu Caodong was third from the opening morning but he admitted that there was little he could do about the leading duo, who were in a class of their own. Miettinen was determined to overhaul Salo on the second day, but he had to maintain a careful pace in order not to pick up a puncture on the many sharp rocks that littered the route. However, in a dramatic finish on Sunday afternoon, Salo was forced into retirement and Miettinen claimed a last-gasp victory.

“This rally was a very big challenge,” said Miettinen. “Nobody knew quite what to expect, so it was important to try and drive safely – although I could not relax for a minute. In the end it was unbelievable, but both me and Juha Salo were pushing hard throughout the rally.” Caodong finished second, as the top local driver. He too was pushed hard, with Jun Xu passing Fan Fan to challenge Caodong on the final day.