Makinen forced to retire

The engine on his Subaru Impreza lost power about 50km from Leg 2's service area at Manlleu, north-west of Rally HQ in Lloret de Mar.

As yet the Subaru team do not know for sure what caused the engine failure. However it seems likely that it is a continuation of the engine and radiator problems that befell the Finn yesterday following his crash on the final stage of Leg One.

"It was a big big disappointment," said Makinen. "The car started normally at parc ferme. It was not smoking, everything seemed fine and up until that point it was 100% but suddenly something broke and we could go no further. It was definitely something to do with our problems last night.

"For me we have had many difficulties on this rally, on a positive note we have gathered some useful information on our tarmac tyres which will help later in the year but for now we have to concentrate on the gravel. We need to relax, get a relaxed feeling in our minds and get the good feeling like we had after Monte Carlo."

Subaru boss David Lapworth said that had the Subaru engine not been so resilient, Makinen probably wouldn't have made it back to service at the end of Leg 1.

"The Subaru engine is remarkable what it can stand up to," he said. "We thought we might get away with it, but not this time."

Makinen has had an up and down start to his first season with Subaru. After picking up his record-breaking 24th World Rally win in Monte Carlo, Tommi retired in Sweden with an overheating engine then crashed out in Corsica.