Sébastien Ogier has confirmed that he and co-driver Julien Ingrassia “feel ok” and has thanked Toyota for “building such a strong car” following a frightening crash from the lead at Rally Finland.
The reigning world champion and co-driver Julien Ingrassia were heading towards the end of stage 17 when their Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1 car fired off the road at speed. The car was pitched into a series of rolls heading towards the trees. It is unclear what caused the crash.
Toyota confirmed that both Ogier and Ingrassia exited the car unassisted and were “generally ok” before they were transported to hospital to undergo precautionary checks. The team has since announced that those medical examinations were positive and that the pair will remain in hospital overnight as precaution.
Ogier has now issued a statement of his own on social media praising the strength of Toyota’s GR Yaris Rally1 car, while thanking stand-in co-driver Ingrassia for his actions in the aftermath of the crash.
“Unfortunately we went off the road in SS17 today. Julien and I have both gone to hospital for some checks and we will stay overnight as precaution after the heavy impact. But we both feel ok, which is the most important,” read a post on Ogier’s social media.
“This is of course not what we had hoped for this weekend, especially after it was going so well.
“But the main thing is that we are in one piece, therefore a big thank you to the team for building such a strong car. Also I need to thank Julien Ingrassia for taking good care of me immediately after the impact and reassuring my family I am well.
“We will take some rest now and make sure we are back to full strength soon, and thank you for all the messages we received.
“Good luck to my team-mates. Bring it home, guys!”
Ogier’s team-mate Sami Pajari inherited the Rally FInland lead following the accident and will take a 46.4s lead over Oliver Solberg into Sunday’s final two stages.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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