Pons forced to miss Japan

Kronos Racing team principal Marc van Dalen confirmed that Pons will not make the trip to the Far East after the lack of time available to get his car repaired following his leg two crash last weekend.

He also said that he believed the Spaniard lacked confidence and needs further testing to get ready for the next round of the championship in Cyprus.

Pons recently lost his status to Dani Sordo as the second manufacturers' championship nominated points scorer in the team.

"We have had long discussions with Xevi and we took two things into account," van Dalen said. "Rebuilding his car for Japan was extremely difficult. Back in Naninne on Wednesday morning, it had to be loaded in the airfreight on Wednesday night! We could have also organised to finish it in Japan but the timing was really tight.

"On another hand, we have noticed that Xevi isn't currently performing at his normal level. He lacks confidence and it's not by competing on the tricky and narrow Japanese special stages that he would have improved that. I trust him and I know he has a real potential."

However, it is not all bad news for Pons. His schedule has been extended to cover the flyaway events in Australia and New Zealand towards the end of the season as a result.

"His programme will restart in Cyprus and before that, he will do some testing," Van Dalen added. "He knows this event and will have everything in hands to get his feeling back, just like when he scored valuable points for the team in the first half of the season.

"Because he won't compete in Japan, his programme has been extended for Australia/New Zealand, which weren't planned originally."