Franz Wittmann’s hopes of marking his return to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with a finish are over after he crashed out approximately two kilometres from the end of stage 11, the 25.26-kilometre Telde stage.
The Austrian went off on a left-hander, ripping the right-rear wheel off his Peugeot 207 Super 2000 in the process.
Wittmann said: “Perhaps we were a bit too fast since we obviously underestimated this turn to some extent. We hit a rock with our right-rear and the suspension couldn’t withstand it. It is a real pity since each and every racing kilometre here would have helped us enormously.”
Wittmann and German co-driver Klaus Wicha had been in 10th overall at the time of their accident. Their next IRC event is Rally d’Italia Sardegna.