Disappointment for Eriksson and Skoda.

Skoda Motorsport has had a bitterly disappointing end to the Swedish Rally with its most experienced driver Kenneth Eriksson, being forced to retire just 7km from the end of the final stage when his Octavia WRC overheated.

Until that point he and co-driver Tina Thorner had stormed through the rally, with times that were always strong and sometimes brilliant. The team, who have only been working together for two world rallies, put many younger drivers in the shade when they raced second fastest through stage 8 of the rally. When they retired they were in fifth position overall and in line to earn the first driver and manufacturer points for Skoda in the 2002 World Rally Championship.

Eriksson, 45, said: "The temperature just kept rising and we tried to keep going, but once the temperature was over 140 degrees, we lost compression and the engine just stopped. I am of course really disappointed especially since the split times for the stage until then were still strong. But I hope that I have proved through this rally that the Octavia WRC is a competitive car, especially on gravel events. I am looking forward to proving that the car can match the top pace in the forthcoming gravel events. I am also positive because until the very end the rally as whole was a success, the car ran well and Tina and I worked well together."

For this rally the third Octavia WRC was driven by former World Champion Stig Blomqvist, who regretted that there wasn't more snow but still finished in 15th position overall.

Blomqvist, 55, who was competing for the 32nd time in Sweden, said: "This has been a really unusual Swedish rally, because the mild weather has meant there is so little snow. Every stage now has long stretches of exposed gravel. But I am really impressed by the Octavia WRC. I first drove it in Finland last year and since then it has undergone a transformation. The handling is so much better and the car as a whole is magnificent."

Skoda Motorsport Team Principal Pavel Janeba concluded: "It is a very big shame that this happened when it did, because the points that Kenneth would have won would of course have been valuable for Skoda Motorsport. So it is a great disappointment. But if you consider the gap between us and the other drivers you can see how competitive the Octavia WRC can be. That's what we have proved here in Sweden, that the Octavia WRC is a competitive car."

An earlier disappointment for the team came when Skoda Motorsport's Toni Gardemeister crashed during the final stage of day two.

Gardemeister left the road at a right hand bend 3.3 km into stage 11 and rolled the car several times before coming to rest in some trees. Nearby spectators helped right the Octavia WRC but the car was too badly damaged to continue. After the accident the clearly upset 26 year old said: "I am really unhappy. We were going well, travelling about 200kph then we came over the brow of a hill and hit a bend which we just couldn't keep grip on. We could easily have been hurt, so I am glad Paavo and I were unharmed, but I am also very disappointed." His next outing for Skoda Motorsport will be in Corsica.

The Swedish rally claimed a number of victims in spite of the fact the weather was much milder than had been forecast. On day one, three times winner, Tommi Makinen (Subaru) retired after hitting a snow bank, while team mate Petter Solberg retired on the first stage of Leg 2 with engine problems. As the melt continued, the routes deteriorated and stage 13 on the final day was cancelled due to the poor road conditions.

Stage 14 was doubly disappointing for Hyundai after Freddy Loix, who was in 5th position, retired with suspension problems, just moments after team mate Armin Schwarz had retired with transmission problems.

The event was dominated by Peugeot, with Marcus Gronholm winning five stages out of six during Leg 2 and Richard Burns fighting back to come 4th after leaving the road in special stage 3.

The Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team will compete next in Corsica (March 7 -10) with the third Octavia WRC driven by Roman Kresta/Jan Tomanek.