No Germany start for Brynildsen

Eyvind Brynildsen has been forced to skip next week’s ADAC Rallye Deutschland following his crash on Neste Oil Rally Finland last month.

The Norwegian ace had been due to contest the Super 2000 World Rally Championship section of the asphalt event in his PS Engineering-run Skoda Fabia, but it has proved impossible to repair the damage caused when Brynildsen rolled at high speed in Finland.

“I’m very sorry to say that I can’t do the rally,” Brynildsen told Wrc.com. “Rallye Deutschland is such a great rally with great fans and super stages that suites me well. But the whole team PS Engineering is working hard to get us back on track in France [venue of the next round of the SWRC].”

Brynildsen had been tipped as a title contender this season but has endured a frustrating campaign alongside co-driver and countryman Cato Menkerud. After five rounds he languishes in ninth place in the standings, 70 points behind current leader Juho Hanninen.

“The season so far hasn’t been what we believed it would be before we started,” said the 23-year-old. “But I really believe we can come back because I do get great help and motivation from my boss Petter Solberg. With the speed we have proved when everything is working I believe we’ll be back. A hard life is only temporary and I hope there will be light at the end of the tunnel.”

Asked about his crash in Finland, Brynildsen explained it had been down to a simple mistake.

“I was just too fast and missed the line - it was a driving mistake,” said Brynildsen. “Before we have had some technical problems and in Finland I was starting to do well until I did the mistake. It was quite a hard impact but we have a lot of protection so it was not too bad.”