Sebastien Ogier has been injured in a car accident before the start of Rally Poland. Find out more below.
The Crash
Sebastien Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais were preparing for recce on a stage earlier this week. When they had a collision with a civilian vehicle. Both Ogier and the civilian driving the second car were airlifted to hospital. Ogier and Landais have both reported they have minor injuries due to the collision.
A statement from the Toyota Gazoo World Rally Team said the following “TGR-WRT crew Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais were taken to hospital for checks following a road traffic collision during reconnaissance for Rally Poland on Tuesday morning. Two occupants of the other vehicle involved, members of the public, were also taken to hospital for medical checks. The incident took place while Ogier and Landais were preparing for the Goldap special stage, which forms SS10 and SS14 of the rally this Saturday. Ogier and Landais were driving a road car as is the standard practice for rally reconnaissance. All recce cars have GPS tracking, which shows the speeds were within the limits set. All involved have underdone scans which showed no serious injuries. While Landais has been discharged, Ogier will remain under medical observation overnight and will not be able to participate in the event. The safety and wellbeing of all involved remains the upmost priority of the team. Alongside this, the team is considering its options regarding any replacement and will provide an update in due course.
Ogier’s Replacement
Due to Ogier being forced to miss Rally Poland, an event he has won twice before, he will be replaced. Who is that replacement? Some guy named Kalle Rovanperä. Rovanperä will have to fly into Poland as he was not scheduled to contest the event. This change only gives the two-time World Champion two days to prepare for the new test. This will add an entirely new challenge to the event as preparations for events normally begin weeks before. Both Ogier and Rovanperä are set to contest Rally Latvia next month, alongside Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta.