Stohl: We rolled - but I couldn't say how often...

OMV Kronos Citroen's Manfred Stohl has admitted that it was his fault he crashed out of the Rally Finland on the second test on Saturday - as he was simply going too quickly.

Stohl rolled his Xsara WRC in SS13, the 22.14 kilometre-run through Juupajoki, when he drifted off the road following a crest a few kilometres into the test. Luckily for him and co-driver, Ilka Minor the scene of the accident was not in the forests and both escaped unhurt - if a bit dizzy.

"About two or three kilometres after the start we came over a crest at very high speed," Manfred explained. "Unfortunately we then got too far to the left and two tyres got caught in the ditch. From then on everything went very fast and we overturned - but I couldn't say how often."

The off was a blow for Stohl, especially as he was looking good to get some points and was running eighth overall, 12.7 seconds behind the Stobart Ford of Henning Solberg in seventh.

Despite his exit though, Manfred was very pleased with the pace of the car and the improvements made over the summer, which he thinks have made a big difference.

"One is disappointed after a drop-out, of course - especially since I would have loved to tackle the 33 kilometre long special Ouninpohja stage, but I think we have proven that we are competitive," he added. "The car is good to handle and the engine power is okay, too, once again. That makes us confident."

Kronos team boss, Marc van Dalen meanwhile was philosophical about the situation - and is now predicting that they could shock a few people in the remainder of the season, especially on the asphalt events.

"No one is happy about a damaged car - but I am nevertheless glad that Manfred is now satisfied with the Xasra WRC," van Dalen summed-up. "I am convinced that we will cause some surprise at the next rallies, especially on tarmac."

For the record, this was Stohl's first retirement since his off on the Acropolis Rally of Greece over a year ago - 16 rallies ago.