A disappointing Rally Finland left Petter Solberg and Phil Mills sitting on the side lines as the tense fight on the high speed jumps and crests of Finland.

Suffering from two punctures after a landing 4kms into to SS4, Petter and Phil were forced to retire one the first day. Petter was second before it happened, and managed to bring the car across the finish line.

After checking the car the plan was to be ready for SuperRally on Saturday, and possibly the Super Special at Killeri on Friday night.

After the problems on Friday Petter was 37 minutes behind. He restarted on Saturday under SuperRally regulations. Petter got permission from the organiser to do the super special stage Killeri, together with Novikov, without any timing.

As Saturday morning dawned Petter Solberg decided to retire from Rally Finland. “Yesterday morning the engine was perfect, but today it’s not working properly. There’s no power, we cannot make a proper attack, so it’s better to stop now to avoid more damage”, says Petter Solberg.

Next event is Rally Australia, 4 - 6 September in Brisbane.

Overall classification Rally Finland 2009

1. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford
2. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen +25,1
3. Jari Matti Latvala, Ford +49,9
4. Dani Sordo, Citroen +1.06,1
5. Matti Rantanen, Ford +4.18,2
6. Sebastien Ogier, Citroen +4.18,5
7. Jari Ketomaa, Subaru +5.07,5
8. Matthew Wilson, Ford +6.36,6