Gronholm relieved to continue
Marcus Gronholm believes he was lucky to get back to the lunchtime service in the Rally Italia today after losing the spare wheel from his Ford and then suffering a puncture
The Finn is now 40 seconds behind rally leader Sebastien Loeb having had to drive gently through SS9 with only three fully-functioning wheels.
"It has been a strange morning," he said.
"I finished the second stage and realised that the spare wheel had been knocked out of the rear of the car. I also had a rear puncture so I had to drive steadily through the next stage to ensure that we finished with four wheels on the car.
"I was worried because another puncture could have meant retirement."
The Ford team believes that Gronholm's spare wheel became detached early in SS8 after a retaining strap fractured.
Gronholm admitted that it would now be almost impossible to beat Loeb to the rally win.
"I went out this morning to attack but Loeb knows it is hard for me to catch him if he has a lead of more than 20 seconds and can control his pace."
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