New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon will be hoping for a smoother experience at the Otago Rally next weekend after a ''difficult'' weekend in Argentina.
Paddon and co-driver John Kennard were left shaken after crashing their Hyundai and injuring six spectators in Sunday's ninth stage.
AFP reported three men, aged 25, 30 and 54, remained in a Buenos Aires hospital intensive care unit yesterday.
Three other fans who were also hurt in the incident were allowed home, the agency reported.
There has been speculation the spectators were in an out-of-bounds-area, but the FIA and rally organisers have not yet released their review of the incident.
Paddon and Kennard were able to continue the rally yesterday and finished their third event of the 2015 calendar in 16th place overall.
They took encouragement from being able to set top-five pace in several stages and finished with encouraging sixth and seventh quickest times through the famed El Condor stage, the two repeated runs of the 16.32km stage which formed the entirety of yesterday's itinerary.
''It was obviously a difficult day, but good to get back in the car and get some miles, and try to build on some confidence again,'' Paddon said.
On Saturday, the Argentinean event's notoriously rough roads took their toll on Paddon's Hyundai i20 WRC car.
A gearbox mount broke partway through the morning's opening 51.99 km leg, but Paddon was still able to set the fifth quickest time.
Nursing the car through the following 19.71km stage, in 20th position, the New Zealanders returned to the mid-leg service to find the damage to the car - in particular a broken exhaust manifold - too great to be repaired in the allocated time.
They restarted on Sunday under Rally 2 regulations and quickly got back in the groove with the fifth and sixth quickest times on the opening two stages.
Then, near the start of stage nine, a small kicker jump caused Paddon's car to land on its side on two wheels close to the edge of the road, where the spectators were hurt.
Neither Paddon nor Kennard was injured in the incident, and the car was easily repairable.
''Overall, it's been a difficult event, but nothing more than we expected,'' Paddon said.
''We could see on the reconnaissance that it was going to be hard on the cars. We had planned to take it nice and easy this weekend, knowing that conditions were rough. Some things just unfortunately didn't work out.''
Paddon said it was important to rejoin the rally after the incident to regain confidence and get some momentum for the Otago Rally (May 8-10) and Rally Portugal (May 21-24).
''We know when all the pieces of the puzzle come together that we can be competitive up the front, so we'll take what we can from this one and move on.''
Britain's Kris Meeke paid tribute to his late mentor, Colin McRae, after claiming the first win of his career in Argentina.
''This one is for Colin,'' said the Citroen driver after becoming the first Briton to win a round of the championship since the Scot in 2002.
McRae, the 1995 world rally champion, died in a helicopter crash near his family home in 2007.
Northern Irishman Meeke's Citroen team-mate, Norwegian Mads Ostberg, finished second, 18.1sec behind.
Britain's Elfyn Evans was third in a Ford for his first WRC podium finish, despite breaking his car's rear suspension on the last stage.
World champion Sebastien Ogier finished 14th for Volkswagen after a retirement on the opening day due to engine problems ended his hopes of a sixth successive win.
Ogier remains comfortably ahead in the championship with 84 points after four rounds.
