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Junior WRC in Finland: Maiden victory for Torn

Ken Torn and Emil Bergkvist both had cause for celebration following an enthralling FIA Junior WRC encounter at Neste Rally Finland this weekend.

Torn gave the legions of Estonian fans more reasons to cheer, following Ott Tanak's overall victory, by winning the penultimate round by 9.9sec in a Ford Fiesta R2. It was his maiden success in the Junior WRC.

Bergkvist was far from downhearted. Second for the Swede promoted him to the top of the championship standings and he heads to the final double points round in Turkey in September with a 14-point lead over Dennis Rådström.

Rådström's hopes of a third victory of the season ended on Friday when he retired with roll cage damage after a heavy accident.

Torn carried a 12.7sec advantage into Sunday's short finale near Jyvaskylä. Bergkvist, who led until a puncture delayed him on Friday evening, cut Torn's lead to 7.9sec but that was as close as he got.

"It's awesome!" said Torn, who climbed to fourth in the championship. "It's my first time here on these fantastic roads. It was quite a tight battle with Emil, but I very much enjoyed it."

Frenchman Jean-Baptise Franceschi was a distant third to keep his title hopes alive and German Julius Tannert secured fourth.

Callum Devine matched his best result of the campaign in fifth, while Tom Williams went one better with his best performance in sixth.

Zdroj: wrc.com