Atkinson unable to restart

Having struggled for pace and run outside the points on leg one, Atkinson revelled in overnight set-up changes and set two fastest stages times on Saturday morning. He was closing rapidly on Henning Solberg's seventh place when he struck a rock in Te Akau South.

Initial reports suggested that the Subaru had sustained nothing worse than a puncture, and that the car would have continued had the ground been firm enough to jack the Impreza up and change the afflicted wheel. But more serious problems were discovered when the Subaru was returned to service.

"Chris seems to have paid a heavy price for a small mistake," said team boss Richard Taylor. "Unfortunately damage to a small section of the roll cage means he will not be able to restart tomorrow."

Under the SupeRally system, Atkinson could have rejoined in 15th place on Sunday.

"We were trying to push on after some good fastest stage times this morning when an open wheel just caught a rock over a blind crest and took the tyre off," Atkinson explained.

"It was just one of those rallying incidents; I think everyone else would have hit it if they had been in my position - they were all swerving to avoid it when we were warning them.

"It wasn't our rally anyway, so I'm not going to get too disheartened."

Atkinson's teammate Petter Solberg remains in the rally in sixth place, having struggled for traction throughout the event.

Valentino Rossi's affiliated Subaru is running 13th. The Italian MotoGP superstar has got closer to the regular drivers' pace with every stage as his confidence in the car and conditions increased.