Gronholm now has a 10-point lead over Loeb

After trailing Loeb by 1.7 secs at the start of the final day, the Finn came to the 18th and last stage leading his French rival by 0.7 secs.

Gronholm just shaded Loeb on a 3.1km dash around a purpose-built circuit to strengthen his lead in the standings.

Third-placed Mikko Hirvonen of Finland was more than one min 40 secs behind.

Gronholm's Ford Focus flashed across the finish line in 2:52.9, but moments later Loeb's Citroen C4 crossed in 2:52.5, for a stage record.

He was 0.4 secs faster than Gronholm but it was not quite enough to snatch victory at the death.

Gronholm immediately leapt onto the roof of his car and thrust his arms into the air in relief and delight.

"It was really, really tough today," he said. "It's never been that close before. We could have been sad but, fortunately, it was our day today."

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His win increases his championship advantage to 10 points - 90 to Loeb's 80 - while Hirvonen remains in third place on 69 points overall.

"For sure it was a good week for us," Loeb said. "We had a really big fight with Marcus and he was faster than us by 0.3 seconds. It's frustrating but what could we do?"

Gronholm won the first stage on the final day to wrest back the lead by 0.1 seconds.

Loeb won the next two, including the 29.81km 14th stage along the Whaanga Coast, and led by 2.9 seconds with four stages remaining.

Gronholm them reeled off three straight stage wins to take a fragile 0.7 sec lead into the last sprint for victory.

"It was difficult to start that last stage because I knew I had to push to the maximum and not make any mistakes," he said

"Finally, we got there, but 0.3 seconds is not much."

Final standings in the NZ Rally after 18 stages:
1. Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Ford 3:52:53.9
2. Sebastien Loeb (Fra) Citroen +00:00.3
3. Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 01:42.8
4. Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru 02:32.3
5. Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford 02:36.9
6. Daniel Sordo (Spa) Citroen 03:42.0
7. Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 03:54.7
8. Urmo Aava (Est) Mitsubishi 09:16.3
9. Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford 09:54.6
10. Matthew Wilson (GB) Ford 10:19.9

Drivers' standings:
1. Marcus Groenholm (Fin) 90
2. Sebastien Loeb (Fra) 80
3. Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) 69
4. Daniel Sordo (Spa) 31
5. Petter Solberg (Nor) 31

Constructors:
1 Ford WRT 159
2. Citroen WRT 113
3. Subaru WRT 60