Gardemeister dislocates shoulder

The Finn sustained the injury when he struck a rock in Myra 2. He was able to carry on to the end of the loop and reached service in 10th place.

"I was in a hairpin bend, with full lock on," Gardemeister explained.

"I must have hit a rock and it ripped the wheel out of my hand. This pulled my shoulder out of the socket for a couple of seconds.

"It was a strange feeling. I remember when I broke my wrist playing ice hockey in 2003; when that happened I felt nothing. This time I also felt nothing.

"I thought: 'Shit, it's broken.' But then a couple of seconds later it went back into the socket and it was incredibly painful."

Gardemeister was checked by Suzuki's team doctor ahead of today's final loop of stages and then given the go-ahead to continue.

The physical discomfort was not the only problem Gardemeister suffered during this morning's stages, as he also sustained a puncture in stage five and subsequently had to battle handling problems.