The pictures are scary. Estonian Ott Tänak violently left the road on Friday in the fourth special of the Monte-Carlo rally, between Saint-Clément and Freissinières in the Hautes-Alpes, but escaped unharmed from his car just like his co-driver Martin Järveola.
His Hyundai came off the road at high speed on a mountain side road and went down the slope for several tens of meters before stopping. A scene captured from the edge of the rally route and from inside the cabin.
Huh huh! Tänakin ulosajo oli tosiaan raju! #ralli #mmralli #WRC #rally pic.twitter.com/HA4F7LBpJ5
- Tomi Tuominen (@T_Tuominen) January 24, 2020The reigning world champion quickly got out of his car, very damaged. He then occupied fourth place in the general classification.
"He came out very quickly, there is a very strong compression where he came out," said Frenchman Sébastien Ogier at the finish of the fourth special after having passed on the scene just after the accident. "They're fine," said Hyundai sporting director Andrea Adamo. "I don't know what happened. you saw what i saw, i'm waiting for him to come back but i was mainly concerned about his physical health ”, he added.
[VIDEO] The crash seen from inside the vehicle
Tänak, 32, has never won the Monte-Carlo rally. He won the World Championship last year while driving for Toyota.
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If there is not a lot of snow on the rally roads, the ice patches make the course difficult since the start of the event on Thursday evening. Several drivers have already been forced to retire at the end of the road, including the British driver Gus Greensmith (M-Sport Ford).
#WRC Greensmith mistake in SS3 #RallyeMonteCarlo
🔴 Info & results ➡️ https://t.co/5zbaQSD3ak pic.twitter.com/Va3eeYXGax