Game over for Sordo and Pons.

Kronos Citroen's Daniel Sordo and Xavier Pons both crashed out of the Rally Finland on Saturday and retired from the event.

Sordo was the higher placed of the two and was in fifth overall when he made a mistake on the second run through the Ouninpohja Lansi stage. Sordo's Xsara WRC left the road straight after a jump in SS12 and while Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti were uninjured, the mechanical damage to the car meant they were forced out. They will not be able to rejoin the fold on Sunday under the SupeRally format.

"After a right-hand corner over a crest, I landed a bit too sideways," explained the 2005 Junior WRC champion, "As the car landed it snapped to the outside of the corner, where there was a rock face - to make things even worse, I was just stuck in the ditch, unable to get going again."

It was a rare error from the young Spaniard, he has finished in every single round this season, scoring points in every one bar Sweden.

Pons meanwhile was also caught out on the Ouninpohja Lansi stage, but on the first run through as SS11, when Subaru team leader, Petter Solberg also rolled out. Immediately after his off, Pons and his co-driver, Carlos del Barrio rang the Belgian-based squad to confirm they were both OK. They will not be able to re-join the fold either.

"On a right-hand corner just after a crest [in Ouninpohja Lansi 1], I found myself sliding towards the outside of the bend. Then I hit a rock with the side of the car, and that pitched us into a roll," stated Xavier.

Kronos Citroen number one driver, Sebastien Loeb, who mentors both, was sympathetic to their plight: "Xevi fell into a trap that has claimed quite a few people. In my notes [for SS11] it says 'crest, 10 metres, right' and I note the real distances. A fraction too fast over the crest and you never make the right," said Seb.

"Dani was caught out by a strange thing that took me a while to get used to. At a 'corner over crest' you think that you should be turning, but in fact if you take off with the car sideways it will land on its rear, and the momentum will just swivel it round. I'm very careful now to take off over the crests with the car pointing as straight as possible. This sort of experience - which is vital on such a specialist event as Finland - only comes with time and several attempts."