Rowe upholds Ford Puma honours in Trier.

A dramatic final day of the Rallye Deutschland proved significant throughout the entry. While several WRC contenders suffered, so did the FIA Junior World Rally Championship crews.

Of the 13 drivers who completed yesterday's second leg, only nine were left in the event at the finish.

British Champions Martin Rowe and Chris Wood were the top Ford Puma crew back in Trier this evening, despite having been hampered today by a car that seemed to be down on power.

"We didn't notice it before but the roads were wet on Friday and for part of yesterday so maybe it wasn't so obvious," noted Rowe. "Perhaps it was good that we didn't need to push hard today."

The Astra team principal Luca Pregliasco added: "I'm proud of Martin's drive on this rally and delighted that he finished in the points. If he had not suffered a puncture yesterday he might even have been on the podium tonight."

Rowe ended the event in fifth place to move up to seventh in the championship alongside fellow Ford Puma driver Roger Feghali.

Belgian driver Francois Duval and co-driver Jean-Marc Fortin took a 43.2 seconds lead into today's final seven stages and set fastest time on the opening stage to go even further ahead. They retained their lead on the second stage but it all went wrong on the next.

"We were about half way through the stage when we came over a crest where there was a lot of mud on the road," he explained. "The car spun off the road and into a bank that bent the exhaust pipe. That meant we couldn't move or restart the car until spectators came to help but by then we'd lost around five minutes and slipped to fifth."

Any hopes of a fight back to fourth place were dashed on SS21 St Wendeler Land 2 when a recurring electrical problem kept blowing the fuses to the fuel pumps, leaving Duval to coast into retirement.

Team manager Chris Birkbeck said: "It was really bad luck for Francois. The impact badly bent the exhaust and it became clogged with mud from the bank. We can't be certain but it is possible that it also led to the electrical fault. Francois was able to continue for a while but it was soon clear that it was not possible to stay in the event and so he had to stop. Nevertheless we showed that the Puma is very competitive on all three types of asphalt in Germany so we can go to San Remo confident of similar performance. Maybe there we will have the chance of a taste of champagne."

Lebanese driver Roger Feghali and Italian co-driver Nicola Arena looked set for a comfortable finish but also ended the rally among the retirements. "We knew we couldn't catch the car in front and were fairly safe from the one behind so there was no reason to throw it all away chasing the impossible," he said. "Unfortunately our clutch failed with two stages to go and we had to retire."

He will have company on the next event as the Astra team will enter a fifth (non-registered) Ford Puma for Feghali's younger brother Dado.

Looking ahead to next month's penultimate championship round, Astra's Luca Pregliasco said: "San Remo is our home event and we know it well. Hopefully that will be a decisive factor in the end result and we are very much looking forward to it."

News from Ford's 'Junior' rivals:

Today's final leg started without Albert Llovera, the Spaniard electing not to take his Fiat Punto out of parc ferme after mechanical problems yesterday. Janne Tuohino joined the retirements list when the Finn's Citroen Saxo broke down on the opening test.

Next event:

The fourth round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship will take place in San Remo, Italy (September 20-22). It will be the last of the four asphalt events in the six-round series before the crews take a break from the action and then regroup for November's final round in Britain. The Italian event features a mixture of stages; some tight and twisty in the hills above San Remo itself and other, more abrasive stages, further along the Liguria coast.

JWRC leaderboard after leg 3 - Top 6:

1.Daniel SolaCitroen Saxo Super 16004hours 10mins 39.6secs2.Andrea DallavillaCitroen Saxo Super 1600+02mins 47.4secs3.Nikolaus SchelleSuzuki Ignis Super 1600+03mins 33.2secs4.Mirco BaldacciCitroen Saxo Super 1600+05mins 20.4secs5.Martin RoweFord Puma Super 1600+06mins 46.8secs6.Kosti KatajamakiVolkswagen Polo Super 1600+08mins 19.0secs