Ignition coils blamed for Subaru’s Monte disaster
Faulty ignition coils were the reason for the retirements of Subaru team-leader Richard Burns and his team mate Markko Martin on last weekend's Monte Carlo Rally
Martin retired without even starting a stage, while Burns, who is one of the title favourites in this year's World Rally Championship, pulled out at the end of the first leg after his car went onto three cylinders before the overnight parc ferme.
Banbury-based Prodrive, which runs Subaru's WRC attack, said it had carried out comprehensive diagnostic tests before homing in on the cars' ignition coils.
In a statement, the team said: "The coils came from a single batch which were manufactured by a sub-contractor. Engineers determined that under a very limited range of circumstances, they suffered an unusual malfunction. The problem has now been totally cured and a solution already implemented for the Swedish Rally."
Subaru World Rally Team principal David Lapworth said: "That is the end of this episode and all of our effort will now be directed towards winning in Sweden."
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