Auriol okay after rally roll.

Didier Auriol has confirmed that he and co-driver Denis Giraudet suffered no serious effects after crashing out of the New Zealand Rally on the weekend.

The Frenchman had been holding a top ten position heading into the event's second leg, and was hopeful of closing in on a point-scoring place as attrition set in over the last few stages. However, he wasn't to know that his SEAT would be one of those added to the retirement list after a monster roll on SS16.

''It was a fast section of road, which I was taking in sixth gear through a right-hand corner and, then, in fifth after a crest,'' he explained, ''I touched the brakes, but the road was muddy and the car slid sideways. The rear hit a bank, which wasn't too bad, but the front then came around very quickly, and we rolled five times.''

Auriol's retirement completed another disappointing event for the Spanish team, following on from team-mate Toni Gardemeister's equally big accident on the rally's opening stage. Both drivers have admitted that they are now looking forward to the introduction of the uprated E3 version of the Cordoba in Finland, and hope that it will change not only their fortunes, but also the team's standing in the championship. Gardemeister, who finished third in New Zealand last year, has already crashed one of the new cars in testing!