Disappointment for Skoda as Kresta crashes out.

Skoda Motorsport has had a disappointing second day of the 70th Monte Carlo Rally, with the youngest Octavia WRC driver in the squad crashing out in the second stage of the day.

Roman Kresta and co driver Jan Tomanek were unhurt, but the car was badly damaged when they hit a wall bordering a hairpin bend in the treacherous mountains to the north of the chic resort.

The other two Octavia WRCs of Toni Gardemeister/Paavo Lukander and Kenneth Eriksson/Tina Thorner continued to fight on, ending the day at 10th and 13th position overall.

The teams today were competing closer to the rally HQ in the exclusive principality, racing in the villages and mountains about an hour's drive north. Temperatures began below zero, but as the winter sun continued to blaze, much of the ice began to melt making the going slippery and wet. Thousands of spectators crowded the roads to enjoy the action, but in spite of the numbers, organisers managed to run all the planned stages, unlike yesterday when the sheer volume of people led them to cancel a stage.

Kresta, 25 crashed 3km into the start of the longest special stage of the day, the 26,73km Puget Theniers to Toudon run. The accident was a blow for the double Czech champion who had put in some excellent times across the rally, including being sixth fastest across the first stage of day one. He damaged the right flank of his Octavia WRC after braking too late into a hairpin bend. When the engine stalled, his only way to avoid hitting the bordering stone wall face on, was to use the handbrake.

He said: "I am very disappointed. Unfortunately it was a critical place on the road to be braking late, anywhere else and it may not have been such a bad result. What I have to do now is look ahead to my next rally in Corsica."

The next rally for Skoda Motorsport will be Sweden where the team will be competing with former world champion, Stig Blomqvist.

Meanwhile 26-year-old Gardemeister kept up the pace in his Octavia WRC finishing the day within the top ten drivers. But over the wet surfaces even he had a scrape, hitting a wall in stage 7 and causing minor damage to the rear bumper of his Octavia WRC. The impact also crushed the end of the exhaust pipe on his Octavia WRC, causing some loss of power. Otherwise he was happy with the drive.

He said: "It was very slippery today, so I was driving cautiously. I am still getting used to the car, especially to its size. In these changeable conditions, sometimes dry, sometimes icy, I don't want to push it. I just want to keep up the pace and keep some things in reserve."

The most experienced driver in the Skoda Motorsport team, Eriksson, 45 continued to have frustrations with his gearshift and was forced to use the clutch on the first two stages of the afternoon. He was also frustrated by the extremes in the road surface.

He said: "This morning we chose a tyre compound that was too soft and at the end of the stages the tyres were getting too worn. So we changed in the afternoon to a harder compound but that meant we were slipping a lot. But by the last two stages of the day we got it right, which improved our time."

Skoda Motorsport's Team Principal Pavel Janeba concluded: "It is a real shame about Roman, because he will now miss out on driving all the rest of the rally kilometres. Those are so valuable for a young driver in his position. He needs all the experience he can get and I am afraid he will pay for those missed kilometres at his next rally."

"As for the other two drivers, I am not pushing them. Their times are not the fastest, but the car is new for them. It is more important at this stage in the championship for them to get used to the car and how it drives. The surface in Monte is not the ideal one for our drivers, but our time will come."

Tomorrow, the final day of the rally, the action will be concentrated less than an hour from Monte Carlo, with crews racing a total of 98,80 competitive km in two stages, both of which will be run twice. The first car is expected on the winning ramp at just after 1500 local time.