Citroen Junior Team driver Kimi Raikkonen rolled his Citroen C4 World Rally Car out of Friday’s competition almost within sight of the end of SS7 - the repeated El Cubilete stage.
The accident happened 17.5km into the 18.87km stage, on a downhill section littered with hairpin corners.
Eyewitnesses report seeing the car roll off the road at high speed, before coming to rest at the bottom of a bank. Both Raikkonen and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom are out of the car and are reported to be okay.
The incident brought an end to an up and down day for the Finn. After losing more than half an hour with an electrical problem on SS2, he set a string of top 10 stage times, including seventh fastest on SS3 and fifth fastest on the asphalt sprint stage, SS4.
A decision regarding Kimi’s return as a Super Rally entrant on Saturday will be made later tonight when the car is recovered to the Service Park.
Rally standings after SS9:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Petter SOLBERG | Citroën C4 WRC | 1h23m39.9s |
| 02 | Sébastien OGIER | Citroën C4 WRC | +15.0s |
| 03 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroën C4 WRC | +27.5s |
| 04 | Dani SORDO | Citroën C4 WRC | +40.8s |
| 05 | Jari-Matti LATVALA | Ford Focus WRC | +1m01.2s |
| 06 | Mikko HIRVONEN | Ford Focus WRC | +1m31.5s |
| 07 | Henning SOLBERG | Ford Focus WRC | +1m37.5s |
| 08 | Matthew WILSON | Ford Focus WRC | +2m47.2s |
| 09 | Federico VILLAGRA | Ford Focus WRC | +4m19.8s |
| 10 | Ken BLOCK | Ford Focus WRC | +4m33.3s |
| 11 | Xavier PONS | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +7m43.7s |
| 12 | Martin PROKOP | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +7m51.7s |
| 13 | Armindo ARAÚJO | Mitsubishi Lancer Gr N | +8m19.5s |
| 14 | Toshi ARAI | Subaru Impreza Gr N | +8m24.9s |
| 15 | Nasser AL-ATTIYAH | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +9m02.4s |