Richard Burns's bid to clinch the World Championship at the Network Q Rally of Great Britain looked to be in trouble on the very first stage in the Welsh forests today.
The 29-year-old from Kidlington was reported to have emerged from the 8.5-mile St Gwynno section with a broken rear suspension on his Banbury-prepared Subaru making him unlikely to progress much further in an event he had to win to keep his title hopes alive.
Burns, expected to prove quickest on roads where he had blitzed the opposition on his way to victory for the last two years, lost half-a-minute to Peugeot's Gilles Panizzi, the fastest of the early starters.
Burns needs a third successive victory in the final round of the World Championship and hope rival Marcus Gronholm finishes out of the top five if he is to capture the crown.
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