BP Ford team leader Marcus Gronholm has said that while it is going to be tough to take the drivers' championship now, he has by no means given up hope.

Gronholm's bid to secure his third crown took a serious knock on the inaugural Rally Ireland at the weekend when he went out early on and crashed heavily into a stone wall.

He had been running third overall, just 4 seconds off the lead, prior to losing it towards the end of the 20.57 kilometre-run through Lough Gill 1, SS4. Although Gronholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen were taken to Sligo General Hospital by ambulance, they were soon released and given the all-clear.

His exit though and no score had major ramifications for his title aspirations and with his arch rival Sebastien Loeb coming through to take the victory, the Finn will now go to Rally GB six points adrift and with it all to do.

“It will be hard to lift the drivers' championship,” reflected Marcus, “but there are a lot of kilometres remaining on the final round in Great Britain so I'm not giving up hope yet.”

Asked about that incident on day 1, Gronholm added that it was quite a major off: “The accident happened near the finish on a wide, right corner,” he explained on Friday. “I braked for the bend but it was extremely slippery and the car skated off the road.

“I managed to turn it sideways before hitting a stone wall hard. It was a big, big impact because the car stopped immediately.

“Both wheels on my side of the car were ripped off. We were taken to hospital where we were both given a scan but that showed no problems. My neck is sore but otherwise I'm OK,” he added.

Despite his own personal misfortune though, the event wasn't all bad for the BP Ford WRT and with Mikko Hirvonen coming home fourth in the #2 car, it was more than sufficient to ensure the M-Sport-run outfit secured the manufacturers' championship for the second year in succession.