Gronholm: It was my error

Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm has declared that his retirement from the lead of the British rally was his mistake. The Finn, who boasted a lead of over a minute on his rivals, explained that a minor hydraulic problem has caused him to lose concentration on the tenth stage of the rally.

RESULTS: Stage 10 classification & overall standings

Gronholm had been concerned about a slight hydraulic problem on the previous stage which forced him to revert to manual gearshift rather that using the steering wheel mounted paddles levers. "It was my mistake, I was not concentrating," said Gronholm. "I had a problem with a hydraulic system and wasn't using the shift on the steering wheel, and just wasn't concentrating on driving.

"I went a little too fast into the corner, which was in a tarmac section," he added. Jani Passonen who came after me did the same thing at the same place and came to rest just five metres from my car. Maybe the tarmac played a part because there was a lot of mud, but it was stupid mistake as I was not in a hurry."

Team boss Corrado Provera was understandably disappointed with the retirement but adaquately pointed out that it was Gronholm's only error of the season. "We know that Marcus is not injured, and I can imagine how sad they must feel," said Provera. "It's the first time that it has heppened to him this year and they deserved to win from the stage times they have been setting. It wasn't a massive accident."