Suspension issue contributed to Guy Wilks' Rally of Scotland crash

The 2009 event winner was trying to regain the lead he had recently lost to Andreas Mikkelsen when he went off on Errochty and lost six minutes.

Wilks had been convinced his Peugeot 207 had picked up a puncture, and the team now reckons this feeling was due to a worn suspension joint that was causing the car's tracking to move.

"When I was trying to warm the tyres up before the start of the stage, I felt car lurching a bit," said Wilks. "I knew something wasn't right."

The Briton has had a very tough Intercontinental Rally Challenge season, with third in Monte Carlo his only podium so far. He has retired from the last four rallies and is only seventh in the standings, so said it was reassuring that his suspicions of a car problem in this incident were not misplaced.

"It helps the feeling in my head," Wilks admitted. "I knew there was something wrong and that explains it."

Wilks has recovered from 23rd to 11th since the crash and will pick up 10th position after service when ninth-placed David Bogie - who stopped on a road section with suspension damage after an incident on High Corrie - officially drops out of the standings.