Indian rally ace Gaurav Gill inched towards 2013 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship title after winning Rally Hokkaido in Japan, the penultimate round of the series.
Gill's closest rival and MRF team-mate Esapekka Lappi was forced to retire for the third time this season when suspension failure on his Fabia thwarted his charge.
Lappi incurred suspension damage on Saturday's ninth test. As the Finn was unable to restart on day two, Gill began Sunday's stages with a comfortable lead.
The Team MRF driver adopted a cautious driving approach in order to secure crucial championship points and now leads the overall standings.
"It's been a really tough weekend, a very long, hard rally and it's not been easy at all so we're relieved to win today. We started off with a good battle with Lappi but then he had some problems so we were left with the advantage," Gill said.
"Today we had to play smart, keep out of trouble and thankfully it paid off in the end. We were cruising this morning but I think we actually drove too slowly - these cars can be more difficult to drive when you're not on the limit because there isn't much traction so we needed to up the pace to ensure we finished with no dramas. We're just happy to have made it to the end in one piece and with more points for the championship," he added.
Last year's FIA Asia Cup champion, Yuya Sumiyaya, finished second overall and also took a win for Subaru in the Asia Cup.
Fellow countryman Shuhei Muta finished three minutes adrift of Sumiyaya, securing the Asia Cup runner-up spot.
