The Briton was running in the top-10 on the penultimate round of this year’s World Rally Championship when he hit an armco barrier on the second day’s El Montmell test.
Discussing the accident after the event, Greensmith said he had not changed the pace note from 2021 - when he drove a Fiesta World Rally Car - and was caught out by the increased speed in the corner
“We didn’t change that pace note from last year,” explained Greensmith, “and the note worked fine last year. Maybe I didn’t take into consideration the extra power with the hybrid and how much speed we were carrying compared with last year.
“When you think, we have the extra weight in the car and the extra power and we were working the tyres that bit harder. I should have recognised that and I should have adapted the speed a bit more.”
Despite the Puma suffering substantial damage from the impact, M-Sport’s hard-working team of mechanics were able to have it rebuilt and ready to go within a matter of hours of it arriving back to the service park.
That enabled Greensmith to return on Sunday, getting valuable mileage while rebuilding his confidence ahead of the season-ending FORUM8 Rally Japan (10 - 13 November).
“I was always brought up through football, through karting and through rallying to think that, if you have a bad day, the best thing to do is not to shy away and get back on it as quickly as possible,” he said.
“You never want to leave an event with a bad feeling. Obviously if the car is in pieces you can’t always get back out but luckily this weekend it was repairable.
“I was very sorry to the guys but as soon as I got back I said to them - if the car can go again tomorrow, it should go again tomorrow. I’m glad we did because it was nice to get some more mileage and enjoy the final day.”
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