A GBP500,000 campaign mounted by the Ford Motor Company to win the 555 China Rally ended after only two kilometres of the opening stage yesterday in this lake resort region 70 kilometres north of Beijing.
First former world champion Colin McRae and co-driver Nicky Grist's rally came to a juddering halt when a front suspension crossmember snapped on their Ford Focus as they cut a right-handed bend only 90 seconds into the nine-kilometre stage.
No sooner had McRae limped his Focus to the side of the road with its front wheel twisted than teammate Thomas Radstrom and co-driver Fred Gallagher clipped the very same corner, inflicting the exact damage on the second Ford Focus.
McRae, who earns around GBP3 million from the 14-round world rally series, still earned approximately GBP215,000 for his troubles.
The Scot speculated that heavy overnight rain had exposed a concrete culvert which hadn't been visible during the pre-event recce.
Ford's challenge was over as China hosted a round of the World Rally Championship for the first time.
A total of 67 cars were flagged across a ceremonial starting ramp opposite the race headquarters here yesterday morning which had been hastily dismantled the previous night and shifted 11 kilometres from the Huairou Sports Ground when organisers were forced to cancel the planned opening ceremony due to persistent rain.