On his first WRC outing since 2009, and in his first ever drive of a Ford, Atkinson partnered US star Ken Block as part of the Monster World Rally Team.
He looked on track for a good finish, but brake and suspension problems saw him retire from both the second and third days of the event.“It was frustrating and sort of started from qualifying where we weren't able to get a good run there. But being with Ken and the Monster team was pretty good,” Atkinson told RallySport Mag.
“We had some good speed at times, and then when they finally got the car set up properly the damper broke at the start of the last day. There was a crack in the bottom of it and it lost all its oil, so there was no chance to continue.”
It wasn't until that final day that the Monster team lowered the suspension on the Fiesta RS WRC, afterwhich Atkinson was immediately around a second per kilometre closer to the leading pace.
“I think we could have been a lot quicker and got a lot better result if it wasn't for those issues. It's good for the team that we won a stage, but I went there hoping for a top five result, which we probably could have got considering the speed we had.
“It would have been much easier if other things were in our favour as well.”
If all goes to plan, the former Subaru World Rally Team driver and his co-driver, Stephane Prevot, will contest both Rally Finland and Rally New Zealand with the Monster World Rally Team.
“We're now working on a plan to compete with the team in New Zealand, but there's a few things that have to come together first. Hopefully we'll know soon.
“Obviously there's a lot of Aussies who'd be happy if that happened - including myself,” he said.
Atkinson's next drive will be in Rally Whangarei, the first round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, where he'll drive a Skoda Fabia S2000 for the Western Australian-based Race Torque/MRF team.He will partner Indian star, Gaurav Gill, against his former team, Proton, who have Scotsman Alister McRae and Swede PG Andersson driving their S2000 Satrias.
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