Atkinson rolls out of rally.
Chris Atkinson's ෴pr🔴omising start to the Rally New Zealand has come to an abrupt end after he rolled into retirement on SS4.
The Australian had been posting times j🎉ust off the leading Fords and Citroe🐠ns through the first loop of stages when he crashed off whilst braking for a downhill section.
Losing control of his Subaru Impreza, Atkinson slid into a ditch, rolled over and heavily damaged the left-side of the car. Despite landing on its wheels and carrying on, Atkinson was forced to park up and retire a short distance from the💝 ꦫfinish line when the engine cut-out.
Chris Atkinson's promising start🐟 to the🥃 Rally New Zealand has come to an abrupt end after he rolled into retirement on SS4.
The Australian had been posting times j﷽ust off the leading Fords and Citroens thr𝓰ough the first loop of stages when he crashed off whilst braking for a downhill section.
Losing control of his Subaru Impreza, Atkinson slid into a ditch, rolled over and heavily damaged the left-side of the car🦋. Despite landing on its wheels and carrying on, Atkinson was🐟 forced to park up and retire a short distance from the finish line when the engine cut-out.
It remains to be seen whether Atkinson will continue to race through the SupeRally system, although - provided Subaru can fix it in time - it is likely they will treat the remainder of the event as a preci♈ous test session.
Meanwhile, Matthew Wilson joined Ford counterpart Henning Solberg in struggling with mechanical problems, the Brit picking up a tr🗹ansmiss꧟ion problem and dropping out of contention.
