Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland took advantage of the retirement of newly crowned champion Sebastien Loeb to cruise to victory in the Wales Rally GB yesterday, the Ford driver's first win of 2011.

Loeb was looking to celebrate the clinching of his eighth straight title by winning the season-ending race for the fourth successive year, but the Frenchman's hopes perished when he was forced to withdraw early on the final day following a head-on collision with another car.

Latvala, who started yesterday 6.1 seconds ahead of Loeb, just needed to keep his head to secure Ford's third win of the season and he came home three minutes, 42 seconds ahead of teammate Mads Ostberg of Norway.

"It's a great feeling because it's been very stressful and frustrating since my last win (in Finland last season)," Latvala said.

"It's a great way to finish the 2011 season. We now need to push for the world title with Ford next year."

Loeb, of Citroen, was already assured of winning the title following nearest challenger Mikko Hirvonen's retirement with engine damage on Friday.

He fell further behind Latvala following yesterday's first test, the mixed-surface 14.93-kilometer Halfway Blast. As he departed to complete the stage, Loeb was involved in a collision with a car driven by a member of the public, damaging his radiator and ending his race. There were no injuries.

"The other car was coming towards Seb and (co-driver) Dani (Elena) on the wrong side of the road," the Citroen team told the world rally website. "It's not possible to make repairs, they are out of the rally."

Henning Solberg of Norway hung on to third place despite Kris Meeke trimming a deficit of 45 seconds to 1.8 before the British driver lost control of his Mini on the closing Power Stage.