Tanak suffers high-speed crash in stage three

Ott Tanak has crashed out of Rally Finland in an incident that briefly red flagged stage three of the World Rally Championship gravel rally on Friday morning.

The Hyundai driver went off the road just over two kilometres into the brand new Sarrikas test [15.93km] which was held in wet conditions. Tanak and co-driver Mattin Jarveoja were sitting in sixth overall after the morning’s first test.

Television pictures did show the i20 N had come to rest on its side. The car lost control mid corner which resulted in a roll with the car then colliding with a tree. 

Officials immediately red flagged the stage to allow medical crews to attend to the scene. It has been reported that Tanak and Jarveoja were being checked over by medical staff before heading to hospital for precautionary checks.

An update from WRC stated: “The crew of competitor car #8, Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja went off the road at high speed around 2km into SS3. The crew exited the Hyundai i20 N and have been taken to the nearest hospital for precautionary checks.”

A further statement from Hyundai read: “Ott is ok, however Martin will be taken to hospital for further checks. We will provide more updates when possible.”

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville was the only car to pass through the stage before it was halted. The Belgian’s run was not without issue after he misjudged a junction which resulted in his i20 N running straight onto the grass.

“The grip was a little bit more constant but I went straight on a junction, there was a blind corner over a crest, my pace note clearly didn’t read a junction and we went straight onto the grass,” said Neuville.

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier headed into the stage with the rally lead by a second from team-mate Kalle Rovanpera after setting the second fastest time on stage two.

Elfyn Evans climbed to third after winning stage two as Takamoto Katsuta completed a Toyota 1-2-3-4.

Stage three was restarted after a 19-minute delay.