The battle for the podium is raging… Gardemeister retires

Toni Gardemeister, who drives the new Suzuki SX4 WRC, was forced to retire today and didn’t even make the start of the 4th day.

Akira Kawada, the team manager, stated: « The engine overheated at the end of SS14 [Saturday] and when the car returned to Valencia. We then discovered some internal damage. We decided not to continue so that we could examine the mechanics and understand what happened. So it will return to the factory in Paris and not to Monaco. »

« It’s disappointing, but it was pointless for Toni [Gardemeister] to start. With the car’s condition, it’s very unlikely that the car would have managed to handle just the 48 km of liaison, let alone the first special stage… »

Gardemeister was in tenth place before his retirement. Per-Gunnar Andersson is eighth before SS 19 (the final stage) in the second SX4 WRC.

Higher in the standings, the battle for third place rages on between Chris Atkinson, virtually on the podium before the last 2-kilometer Super Special, and François Duval, 4th in the Ford Focus 07.

The two men, after several best times achieved by Duval today, are separated by only 1 second and 7 tenths. Enough to take the advantage in the last stage of the day at the slightest mistake by the Subaru driver.

« It’s true that it went well for the moment. The roads actually seem to suit me better than yesterday. » Commented Duval.

On his side, Atkinson admits to having had some discrepancies: « I fought a bit against grip and consequently lost a bit of my confidence. »

Atkinson, who finished the 2007 Monte-Carlo in 3rd place, earned his spot on the podium in the very last super-special stage and by only a few tenths over Hirvonen. Living in Monaco can indeed be a certain advantage here.

« I’m going to try to stick to my position. I have no desire to relive a super special like last year. »