The Finn swooped into the lead on Friday morning and never faltered as rough gravel roads and sweltering heat obliterated a number of his rivals.
He began Sunday’s final leg 44.6sec clear of Nikolay Gryazin’s similar Škoda Fabia Rally2 and measured that gap to perfection - cruising through the last three stages drama-free to take the spoils by 36.1sec from his Toksport team-mate as well as topping the WRC2 Junior standings in eighth overall.
Lindholm took a surprise win on his last outing in Finland after Teemu Suninen was disqualified due to a technical infringement. He admitted the champagne tasted much sweeter this time around.
“We won this rally on our pace and I am so happy, honestly,” he beamed. “I knew when we came here that it could be a good rally for us, but there are always question marks and lots of risks.
“We really managed it well and I am very grateful to the team for providing us with a car which could survive in these conditions,” he added.
Yohan Rossel was on course to complete the podium but an uncharacteristic mistake saw the Citroën C3 Rally2 driver roll out of contention on a hairpin bend.
That paved the way for Alexandros Tsouloftas to seize third overall in a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. The Cypriot ended 3min 7.2sec back from the lead and leapfrogged Eyvind Brynildsen in the finale - pipping the Fabia man by just 2.9sec.
Fabrizio Zaldivar was fifth in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 while Indian driver Gaurav Gill rounded out the top-six. After retiring on Thursday night, Andreas Mikkelsen managed to haul himself back up to seventh with a storming drive which included a third-fastest overall time on SS15.
Finland
Italy
Hungary