Atkinson rolls out of rally.
Chris Atkinson's🌞 pro♏mising 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 just off the le🍎ading Fords and Citroens 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 finish 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 jus꧅t off the leading Fords and Citroens thr🉐ough 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 Atkin𓆏son 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 precious test session.
Meanwhile, Matthew Wilson joined Ford counterpart Henning Solberg in struggling with mech🍸anical problems, the Brit picking up a transmission problem and dropping out of contention.
