Co-driver: Miikka Anttila
I continued the same speed as in Catalunya. We were sixth when we arrived at the first service. Our speed stayed the same but unfortunately Daniel Sordo was quicker than us. He was sixth and we dropped to the seventh place when we arrived at the next service.
The first stage went very well on Saturday morning. We lost only 0,5 seconds per kilometre to Loeb who was the fastest on that stage. We made a fatal error on stage six. The microphone of Miikka´s helmet jumped up and I only heard a part of the notes. I was stupid and didn´t understand to slow down. When I heard the rest of the notes I started to brake, but there was sand on the road and the car slid. I tried to get a grip but there were rocks in the inner curve and they hit the steering so hard that I broke my thumb. The car rose on two wheels, I lost control and we hit the trees.
My best rally ever ended the same way so many other – not to mention good – drivers have ended theirs – driving off the road.
retirement SS6
Ford Focus WRC 04
Team: Stobart Motorsport
Rally engineer Asko Kosonen