|
Official: Marcus out for good |
The BP Ford World Rally Team has confirmed that Marcus Gronholm will not be able to re-start on Saturday under the SupeRally format, something that brings his outing on the Rally Japan to a premature end.
Gronholm, who had taken the lead in SS3, went off the road in the following 2.73 kilometre Rikubetsu test, dropping a minute and damaging the roll cage inside the door on his side of the car after he crashed into a tree stump.
The damage was too great for him to continue for safety reasons and he retired from the leg.
The team and FIA technical officials then examined the point of impact in greater detail once the car was returned to the service area to determine whether repairs could be made to allow him to restart. However, additional damage was found to the mounting where the door bars link to the main hoop of the roll cage and as such he can not continue.
"The accident happened at a third gear corner at a point in the stage where I changed my pace notes during the recce," he explained. "It's faster there this year because some trees have been cut down. I slid wide and the right rear wheel hit some straw bales. The impact threw the car down a bank into a tree stump. The impact was hard and on my door. The stage was covered with loose gravel and was slippery all the way through.”
Although he now looks almost certain to lose his lead in the drivers' championship, Marcus remains reasonably positive, although he will be praying that his team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen can hang on to the lead and stop Sebastien Loeb taking the maximum ten points.
“The drivers' title is still open, whatever the result here, but a non-finish obviously makes it more difficult,” Marcus conceded.
“The accident was similar to the one in Australia last year when I went off the road and hit some tree stumps. That cost me the title so I hope it works out a different way this season.”
If Loeb does take the runners-up spot on Sunday, Marcus will drop to second in the standings, four points behind.
