Gronholm: Not the way we wanted it to end.

Having started the event looking to give Peugeot a farewell victory, Marcus Gronholm was left disappointed after he followed team-mate Daniel Carlsson in retiring from Telstra Rally Australia on the opening morning of the event.

With Carlsson rolling out of the event on SS3, Peugeot were left to focus on Gronholm who was looking to add to his 18 WRC wins with the team in their final event together before Peugeot leaves the WRC stage and Gronholm moves on to Ford for the 2006 season.

However, despite overcoming two punctures to lie just eight seconds off the lead after SS6, Gronholm's challenge was soon to come to an end when his front right suspension failed on stage seven - costing the two time world champion over a minute.

Although the Finn managed to make running repairs using nuts taken from the three undamaged shock absorbers, one wheel was still rubbing against the arch and with increasingly dense smoke coming from the affected wheel, the Australin police informed Gronholm that he was going nowhere on the public roads, putting him out of the event on the spot.

"On the preceding stage, I touched a rock on the apex of a corner," he said. "At the end of the stage I checked for damage, but the suspension seemed to be fine - there was just a bit of damage to a wheel.

"After 12 kilometres of the following stage the front-right suspension suddenly collapsed on a right-hand corner. I really do not understand what could have happened, as I did not feel anything at all.

"It's a real shame to end what has been a fantastic career at Peugeot like this. I really wanted to win here, in order to finish with a 19th victory."

Team boss Jean Pierre Nicolas was equally disappointed at the way the event had come to a premature conclusion.

"We do not know the cause of Marcus Gronholm's problem for the moment," he said. "Sadly, it has deprived us of a victory that was entirely possible and hoped for by all our team. We were all extremely motivated before the start of our last participation in the World Rally Championship."