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Citroen driver Mikko Hirvonen has crashed his DS3 WRC heavily in his pre-Monte Carlo Rally test.

While the Finn and his co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen emerged from the shunt unscathed, the car has been too badly damaged to continue in what was Citroen's final day of preparations for the 2013 World Rally Championship season-opener.

"The accident happened in a fast corner, maybe fifth gear," Hirvonen told AUTOSPORT.

"We were going about 100km/h on slick tyres, when I missed the turn-in for the corner by a fraction. We got on slush and that was it, there was nothing I could do.

"We hit the mountain and rolled three times, I think. We were quite lucky that the car stayed on the road.

"It's not the best start to the year, but the good thing is that it was the final day of the test, so it's only my day that I ruined..."

Citroen has been running its pre-Monte set-up test for the last three days. Hirvonen completed two days of running in the French Alps last month.

The Monte Carlo Rally starts on Wednesday next week.