Early setback for Dream Team Ukraine duo

Nicola Arena says it is still not clear whether or not he and driver Oleksiy Tamrazov will be able to restart on day two of Rally San Marino following their retirement on the opening special stage.

The Dream Team Ukraine pair were targeting a top 10 finish on the gravel event, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, when they hit trouble 14 kilometres into the 19.33-kilometre Sestino stage this morning.

“It was nothing special,” said Italian co-driver Arena. “We were cutting too much a corner and we hit a piece of concrete with the front-left wheel, which took it off.”

To make matters worse for the M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 duo, the stage was cancelled shortly after their retirement following earlier delays. “We had no idea about this, there had been no yellow flags,” said Arena. “We’re disappointed to have retired. Although Oleksiy was not crazy about the stages here we hoped for more. We are not sure if we restart."