Jari-Matti Latvala stepped from his car, paused for a moment, then put both hands on the roof and lowered his head. Silent prayer? Quite possibly. This was Coffs Harbour at the end of Rally Australia last year.
Like his Volkswagen Motorsport colleagues, emotions were running high for Latvala. There was genuine disbelief on his face. The end of the road had been reached.
And what about the road less travelled? What about the road to 2017? More importantly, what about the car they would be driving down that road?