Sainz co-driver Moya ruled out

Moya cracked a rib and broke a tooth when Sainz hit a rockface while testing around the Tarragona region of north-east Spain. Taking Moya's place alongside Sainz is former co-driver to Jesus Puras, Marc Marti.

Moya has been Sainz's co-driver for all but three of the Spaniard's 154 World Rallies, but medical advisers have deemed Moya unfit to take part in his home event, which gets underway on Friday.

"Luis is very disappointed to miss his home rally," said Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson. "But he has accepted the advice of his medical advisors with bravado. He is a consummate professional and spent time working with both Sainz and Marti from his hospital bed on Monday night to assist the pair in reworking complicated pace notes to ensure the transition was smooth for both Carlos and Marc."

Sainz admitted it will be difficult not to have his regular pace note reader next to him in Spain, but said Marti was a capable replacement.

"After 15 years with Luis beside me, it has obviously been difficult settling in to a routine with another co-driver," said Sainz. "But we have worked hard to become comfortable in the car and with each other. We made considerable progress yesterday and I'm confident we will continue to build on our relationship."

Moya is now recuperating at his home in Barcelona but intends to be at the shakedown on Thursday morning to offer the team any assistance. The team expects Moya to be fully fit for the next round of the WRC in Cyprus next month.