Gronholm confident despite error

Sebastien Loeb cut Gronholm's points lead from 13 to nine after the Ford driver damaged his Focus while trying to fend off a charging Francois Duval on Sunday afternoon and fell from second to fourth place.

Gronholm lost 80 seconds as he nursed the Ford to the stage finish, but was able to complete the final road section after performing impromptu repairs.

World Rally Championship competitors are no longer allowed to drive damaged cars through road sections unless all four tyres are intact, so Gronholm risked being classed as a retirement had he failed to make it back to the service park, even though he had completed the competitive mileage.

The points leader accepted responsibility for the crash.

"We were warned there was a cow near the road," said Gronholm.

"The marshal waved us through and I drove round it with no problem but it put me off and I lost concentration. I wasn't listening to Timo's pace notes properly and 100 metres later I slid wide on a left corner.

"The right rear of the car hit a wall and it spun round. I finished the stage and we had to repair the suspension to drive to the finish."

Despite losing three points due to the incident, Gronholm said he was satisfied with the rally overall. He had lost touch with Loeb by making a poor tyre choice on the first day, but matched the Citroen's pace for much of the rest of the weekend.

"It's disappointing but I was happy with the Focus' performance on its first asphalt rally. We were closer to Sebastien Loeb here than on previous asphalt events and that's encouraging with three of the final six rounds on that surface."

But he acknowledged that he could not afford further errors in the remaining events.

"Now we have to be sharper on the next round in New Zealand and make no mistakes," Gronholm said.

Team boss Malcolm Wilson agreed that the crash had not been too great a blow to Ford's title hopes.

"Despite Marcus' setback, we're still in a strong position in both championships," he said.