The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets retired their Lancer Evolution WRC from the Rally of Great Britain today. The Belgians have been hampered by gearbox problems throughout the event and were ultimately forced out on the road section to stage 11.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart F. Loix / S. Smeets

Mitsubishi Motors drivers hold the first two places in the Group N production class however. Peruvian Ramon Ferreyros, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, is just ahead of Swede Kenneth Backlund in a Mitsubishi Carisma GT and Mitsubishi drivers hold nine of the top 10 places in the category.

With a 33% retirement rate yesterday, only 79 crews took the re-start in Cardiff early this morning and, while conditions in the city were clear, light rain and patchy fog greeted the crews in the stages. The route, covering 133 competitive kilometres, involved just four forestry stages in South Wales before returning to the city for the final super special stage. However, following an incident involving Carlos Sainz, stages 11 and 12 were cancelled. While the Focus crew is unhurt, the Medical Officer in attendance advised of 12 spectator casualties and, due to the serious nature of the incident, Ford Motor Company has not only withdrawn Sainz from the event, but also the third car piloted by Mark Higgins.

Despite dampened spirits and respect for the injured, the battle for the rally victory and Championship title still rages and, while Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm holds a commanding one and a half minute advantage over Richard Burns, the Subaru driver is still poised to take his first title on Sunday afternoon.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart F. Loix / S. Smeets

The Lancer Evolution WRC crew of Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets have suffered with gearbox problems throughout the rally. Fifth fastest through the opening stage - the longest of the rally at 46.45 kilometres - was an impressive feat being that over half of the stage was completed with a broken rear damper and no third or fifth gears. And, by the next stage, Freddy was left struggling with just first, second and sixth.

On arrival at the service park near Swansea, the Mitsubishi engineers could confirm the gear shifting mechanism appeared to be working properly but, having already used the one permitted spare gearbox, the repair options were limited. A last ditch attempt was made by Freddy and Sven, but they were ultimately forced to retire on the road section to stage 11. "Like Tommi, it’s very disappointing to go out of the rally. We wanted to finish on a high, but it just wasn’t to be", said Freddy.

Adding to his comments, Andrew Cowan, Chairman of Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe said: "It has been a very disappointing end to the season after we started in such a strong way. But, we’ve experienced similar disappointments before and, as history has proved, this only makes us stronger for the future. Our world rally car is improving event by event, and looking to next year we’re feeling positive about our driver line-up and believe we can start in Monte Carlo with a car and drivers capable of winning".

South American drivers have dominated Group N in recent years, and Ramon Ferreyros is therefore upholding a strong tradition in his Lancer Evolution and beating many much more powerful World Rally Cars too.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Gr.N R. Ferreyros / J. Marin