The
BP Ford World Rally Team has confirmed that
Mikko Hirvonen will be able to re-join the fold in Corsica on Saturday under the SupeRally format.
Mikko, who was fourth through the opening test this morning, retired in the next one, 14 kilometres after the start of the 27.42 kilometre stage from Arbellara to Aullene, SS3.
The Finn blamed a pace-note error for the incident, which saw him crash his Focus RS WRC car into a concrete block.
"My pace notes were too fast for a left corner and I entered the bend too quickly,” he explained. “The car slid wide towards a concrete block and I hit it just where the suspension is attached to the bodyshell.
“I was lucky that the car slid rather than went straight on because there was a big drop off the edge. I knew we weren't going to get round and the concrete blocks aren't that soft around here.
"There was a small fire because fluid dripped onto the exhaust. The wheel was ripped off and bounced onto the roof of a house which was just below the level of the road. It bounced back onto the mountainside before rebounding onto the wall of the house and missing the kitchen window by about half a metre.
“It damaged a few tiles on the roof but the owner wasn't angry – he was quite excited by it all!"
BP Ford team boss, Malcolm Wilson meanwhile added that while the car was badly damaged, it has all been fixed for day 2.
“Mikko made an uncharacteristic error but he will return tomorrow so he can build his experience of these roads and hopefully score a manufacturers' point,” added Wilson Sr.
“The damage to the car was heavy. The suspension mounting on the chassis was broken which required a lot of fabrication work to the mounting point before the replacement of the entire suspension system. The rear differential was also replaced but the car is now restored to full health for tomorrow."
