Thousands of spectators watched Norwegian Petter Solberg claim victory by a mere car's length in round four of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill.

The 2014 champion suffered fuel pump issues in the third heat aboard his Citroen DS3 but bounced back to win the final from a charging Mattias Ekstrom.

The victory means Solberg has extended his championship lead over VW Polo pilot Johan Kristoffersson, who took third place in the final ahead of Andreas Bakkerud.

Solberg started the final from pole and while Ekstrom dived for his joker lap around the outside of Chessons Drift on lap one, Solberg pulled out a lead up front.

The 2003 World Rally champion saved his joker lap until the start of the final tour and remerged side-by-side with Ekstrom, who hassled Solberg to the line but couldn't pass.

The gap at the finish was a mere 0.341s.

Post race, Solberg said: "What a fantastic weekend here at Lydden Hill, with an amazing atmosphere and a great crowd!

"It was a big fight against Mattias in the final, and I was getting the split times from my team so I knew it was going to be tough and I had to push like mad over the last couple of laps – right to the limit.

"Close battles like that are what rallycross is all about, and I loved every second of it!

"I love fighting and we do this because it's a close fight and you have to push yourself very close to the limit and that's why we love rallycross."

While Solberg, Ekstrom, Kristoffersson and Bakkerud locked out the top four, Reinis Nitiss took fifth ahead of Briton Guy Wilks.

Wilks, on his rallycross debut, suffered a puncture in the final and was forced to retire his BMW Mini but impressed throughout the earlier stages.

Elsewhere, fellow Brit Andrew Jordan (Peugeot 208) could only finish fifth in his semi-final after producing a storming drive in the third heat to top the timesheets.

Sittingbourne's Liam Doran failed to reach the semi-final stage but showed improved pace in his Citroen DS3 on day two.

Circuit owner Pat Doran said the two-day event was a success, with attendance figures estimated at almost 15,000 for the weekend.

He said: "It was a massive success, a massive weekend. We are really starting to put the sport on the map now.

"People should be proud that this is here, especially locally, they should get more behind it.

"It ran faultlessly. It was the best atmosphere we have ever had at rallycross.

"We upped our game a lot this year."

Teenager Kevin Hansen won the RX Lites class, while Fredrik Salsten took the TouringCar win in his Citroen DS3.

Canterbury's Tristan Ovenden took fifth in his RX Lites semi-final aboard his JC Race Teknik machine.