How a wheel
saved the day
for Nikara

That was certainly the case for Jarkko Nikara on stage five of RallyRACC-Rally de Espana - the 44.02 kilometres of Terra Alta - this afternoon.

The Finn had been impressing on his debut in a Prodrive MINI John Cooper Works WRC when he picked up a front-left puncture and lost more than four minutes changing the damaged tyre when things went awry.

“It was on the front-left corner on the long stage,” said Nikara. “We hit a stone on the inside and we stopped to change. We started to change the tyre but we had a little problem with the jack and the car started to fall. It was quite a big mess and it takes too long time to change. We had to be quick when it happened so we put another wheel under the car to keep it up.”

Nikara, who is eighth overall after six stages, continued: “Then after that I didn’t have very good brakes and I don’t know what the problem was but there was a very bad vibration. It’s a little disappointing after the good morning but the main thing is we are here and tomorrow we can get more experience.”