Road accidents happen even to experienced pilots.
Sunday morning, Sébastien Ogier was on his way to the start of the 17th special of the Rally Croatia scheduled for 7:20 a.m. While moving to the right, the French driver's Toyota Yaris WRC was struck by the car of a civilian thrown at full speed. speed on a lane reserved for buses.
@SebOgier crashed on road section between SS17 and SS18 @ croatiarally #croatiarally #wrccroatia pic.twitter.com/LYWspGPPta
- MarMal (@mmalcevic) April 25, 2021
The accident did not cause any injuries but seriously damaged the right side of the car of the reigning world champion, his co-driver not being able to completely close his door.
“Seb and Julien [Ingrassia, his co-driver] were involved in a traffic incident on the section between the service park [in Zagreb, the capital] and the first stage this morning.
Fortunately, no one was injured and their Yaris WRC is OK to continue, ”the Toyota team said on Twitter.
The French pilot loses his place as leader
Before this 17th special of the first Croatian Rally in the history of the WRC, Sébastien Ogier was leader in the standings. In the first part of the race, a narrow uphill road with many hairpins, the Frenchman resisted his two main pursuers, the Welshman Elfyn Evans and the Belgian Thierry Neuville. But the second part of the course, downhill, was more problematic and the seven-time world champion conceded 2.7 seconds and 1.4 seconds respectively to the Welsh and Belgian. “It was slippery in the downhill part, and it's true that I didn't really drive very well there,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing driver.
In the process, Sébastien Ogier lost his place as leader at the end of the 18th special, with 2.8 seconds behind the first Elfyn Nevans. There were still two specials to go over a total of 300.32 km in the mountain ranges.