BP Ford's Mikko Hirvonen saw his remarkable run of top five finishes on every single event this season come to an end on the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse last weekend.

Hirvonen was running fourth overall on day 1 in his BP Ford Focus RS WRC when he went off the road on the second competitive stage and hit a concrete block.

Although he rejoined under the SupeRally format on day 2 and then steadily climbed back up the order by then he was never going to achieve much.

In the end he was classified in 13th place overall, picking up the final manufacturers' point on the very last test, when he overhauled OMV Kronos Citroen man Manfred Stohl.

Speaking at the finish, the Finn paid tribute to the work of his M-Sport mechanics, after they repaired his car and got him back out for the second and third legs.

"It was an up-and-down weekend but in the end it all feels OK. I didn't think I would be able to carry on after the accident but we scored this point because of unbelievable work by our mechanics," he noted.

"I'm disappointed not to finish higher but relieved to score a point for the team. It was good for our confidence to continue - and even on the last stage I made two corrections to my pace notes so they should be good for next year's event."

Asked about the incident on day 1, when he went off the road 14 kilometres after the start of the 27.42 kilometre stage from Arbellara to Aullene, Mikko added that a pacenote error was to blame.

"My pace notes were too fast for a left corner and I entered the bend too quickly," he explained on the Friday. "The car slid wide towards a concrete block and I hit it just where the suspension is attached to the bodyshell.