Rally of Great Britain winner Petter Solberg admitted to being a bag of nerves before clinching his first world championship victory.

"I never thought I had nerves before but I tell you I found them on that last stage," said the Subaru driver.

"Maybe before I tried to look like I was a tough guy but I'm no tough guy.

"I really was trembling and halfway through [the last stage] I thought I heard a bad noise coming from the engine.

Maybe if I'd driven a lot more aggressively on the first stage it would have been much closer Markko Martin

"I had some bad luck in the past but I don't want to think about bad luck any more.

"I just want this to be the first of many more wins in the future. The feeling - I can't describe it."

Solberg won the event in impressive style, snatching the advantage from overnight leader Markko Martin with a brilliant display on the first of Sunday's four stages.

Martin had gone into the final day less than two seconds in front, but Solberg beat him by more than 20 seconds on the run through Resolfen.

The Norwegian eventually won by 24.4 seconds after winning three of the stages on the final day.

"Maybe if I'd driven a lot more aggressively on today's first stage it would have been much closer," said Martin, who has had a cool relationship with Solberg.

"We got this rally 99.9% right, but Petter got it 100% right so he deserves his win.

"I've really learned that at this level you can't afford to drive too safely if you want to win."