Brake problems cause Atkinson exit

Chris Atkinson’s dramatic exit from day two of Rally Guanajuato Mexico was caused by a brake problem it has emerged.

The Australian ace, in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, completed the punishing 41.88-kilometre stage 16 with the 10th fastest time only to crash just after the flying finish. He was in eighth position overall on his first start in the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia for more than three years.

Derek Dauncey, who heads the Monster World Rally Team, said: “It sounds like Chris has lost the brakes. He was talking about a brake problem in the stage and that fits with the way the split times were starting to drop off. It’s a real shame, Chris was going very well.”

Atkinson is expected to return under Rally 2 regulations on Sunday, according to Dauncey: “It sounds like the car will be okay to start again tomorrow, but the problem then is that we expect Chris to be second on the road which will make it difficult for him to improve on the times he’s been setting for the last couple of days.”