Gardemeister and Astra left in the lurch?

Toni Gardemeister may not be able to take part in the Rally RACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada later this month, after his 307 WRC was apparently re-sold by Peugeot to a French team.

According to rallye-magazin.de, Finnish newspaper, Ilta Sanamat, is reporting that the 307 WRC that is rented by Astra Racing and who run the car for the Finn, has been let to someone else, something that leaves Gardemeister, who finished third in Monte Carlo, without a drive.

The information has apparently been leaked by Promoracing, who are working on behalf of Gardemeister, to try and secure his future in the sport. The theory goes that Peugeot are keen for a Frenchman to use the 307, with Nicolas Bernardi tipped as the likely benefactor.

Astra are now said to be in discussions with Citroen and Mitsubishi, in order to gain a World Rally Car for future events.

Whether or not this will affect Gardemeister's participation on the Spanish round of the WRC in two weeks time has yet to be confirmed. It may well be that something was signed so that the car cannot be sold until after the Spanish event, but as yet there is no official word from Astra Racing.

Indeed the team recently confirmed to Crash.net that as well as taking part in Catalunya, Gardemeister would compete in Corsica and Argentina too, while Sardinia, Greece and Turkey were possibilities, but were 'still to be defined'.

More to follow as we get it...