Although SS4 passed without incident, SS5 had to be abandoned while medical crews attended to Gigi Galli following a heavy accident for the Stobart Ford driver.

Initial reports suggested that both Galli and co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini had escaped serious injury, with Galli conscious and talking to the medics while still in the car. He was later airlifted to hospital for checks.

The following stage was also then halted after the first three cars passed through, as the rally organisers were concerned about the gap which had appeared between the first group of competitors who emerged from SS5 before Galli's accident and those held up behind the crash, especially as spectators had built up on the stage roads during the hiatus.

Gigi Galli has been airlifted to hospital in Trier for checks after his heavy accident in SS5 of the Rally Deutschland.

The Italian rolled his Stobart Ford on a high-speed section 12 kilometres into the Grafschaft Veldenz stage, and was initially trapped in the car.

The latest reports from series officials suggest that Galli has escaped serious injury. His co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini has been driven to hospital for precautionary checks.

"I have spoken to Giovanni twice and to the medical staff on the scene," said Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson shortly after the accident.

"It seems Gigi is trapped in the car and he is injured. The nature of those injuries remains unclear, but they are not life-threatening.

Originally posted by pingu666
...............lost the spirit of adventure, and the loss of the african event aswell...

Originally posted by Bloggsworth
They have totally emasculated what used to be the RAC rally - Rain, snow, mist, sun, day and night, a real test all over the UK; now......................... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Originally posted by sterling49
I have to say that as a looong time motor sport fan racing and rallying, unless they get some more competitive cars and drivers in the series, it will become a yawn as F1. The gurus in charge do not understand. Seb Loeb is a fantastic driver, but he needs competition, and we need more factory teams, Ford and Citroen and Subaru, is not enough, come back Mitsubishi, Lancia and Toyota. Will it ever regain the lost momentum? I fear not sadly, although I hope that it does.

Originally posted by Andrew, Ford &F1
Rallying was great at the beginning of the century, when Ford, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Peugeot, Subaru, Seat, Skoda, Hyundai and Citroen battled it out. There were up to seven works teams, that was rallying!!!

Originally posted by pingu666
what where is other results?

WRC rally driver Gigi Galli got a surprise on Sunday evening after the finish of Rally of Germany when a selection of his WRC colleagues visited him in hospital.

Galli had a high-speed accident on the first day of the event and required hospital treatment to pin a fractured left femur.

After finishing the rally, the other Ford crews planned to visit Galli, but in order to cheer up the Italian they all dressed in their fire-proof underwear. After some strange looks in the Trier hospital, the crews, joined by the Citroen pair of Dani Sordo and Marc Marti, invaded Galli's room and shared stories from the weekend's action.

Galli is recovering well after his Friday evening operation and is expected to leave hospital and return home on Wednesday.

"It was great to see all my team mates in the hospital and what a surprise to see them all walk into the room in their underwear," said Galli. "We have a great team spirit between all of the Ford crews and it really is just like a big family. The doctors tell me the operation went very well so hopefully I will recover soon and get back to action for all of my fans."