Stuart Loudon failed to finish in his first start at the Tour de Corse after his driver Mohamed Al Mutawaa’s Citroën DS 3 R3T caught fire on Day 2.
It had been a disappointing rally for Loudon as Al Mutawaa suffered with power steering problems on the opening day, as well as a loss of brakes, giving the pair a huge deficit against the Junior WRC field coming into the second day in Corsica.
The second day proved to be the final blow for Loudon and Al Mutawaa as the car caught fire after a crash on SS5, but both escaped uninjured.
Loudon said “As is always the case with these things, the main thing – the only thing – is that Mohamed and I are out of the car and unhurt.
“The crash happened on quite a tight right hand corner. The straight leading into the bend was really bumpy and as soon as Mo touched the brakes, he said there was nothing, the car swapped ends and spun us into the bank.
“The car rode up and rolled on the bank, across the road and down into a ravine on the other side. I think we rolled three or four times before the car stopped up against a tree.”
Loudon added about the disappointment of failing to finish in Corsica on his first attempt.
“It’s such a shame. Yesterday was tough for Mo with the power steering, but we were really looking forward to today.
“These things can happen. It was a very, very dramatic end to the event – and fairly surreal standing absolutely helpless and watching the rally car burn. But, like I said, the main thing is we got out and we’re both fine.”
