Rally San Marino woe for impressive Salo

Juha Salo has retired from fifth place on Rally San Marino, round seven of the all-action Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

The seven-time Finnish champion, back in the IRC for the first time since the China Rally in 2008, had impressed having only sampled his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 on a handful of runs of shakedown before Friday’s opening stage got underway.

However, following a spin on stage nine, Salo was forced to stop on the road section heading to stage 10 when his car developed a water leak.

Salo’s misfortune promotes his fellow Finn Jarkko Nikara into fifth place with Hungarian Gergély Szabó up to sixth position.