Gap (AFP)
Estonian Ott Tänak violently left the road on Friday in the fourth special of the Monte-Carlo rally 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. The reigning world champion quickly got out of his car, very damaged.
He then occupied 4th place in the general classification.
At the end of the 4th stage, the British Elfyn Evans (Toyota) occupies the head of the provisional classification in front of Tänak's teammate at Hyundai, the Belgian Thierry Neuville at 3.4 seconds, and the French Sébastien Ogier ( Toyota) at 5.5 seconds.
"I hope Ott is doing well," said Ogier at the finish of the 4th stage after passing the scene just after the accident. "It came out very quickly, there is very strong compression where it came out," he said.
Tänak, 32, has never won the Monte-Carlo rally. He won the world championship last year while driving for Toyota.
"They are doing well," said Hyundai sport director Andrea Adamo. "I don't know what happened. You saw what I saw, I am waiting for him to come back but I was mainly concerned about his physical health," he added.
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).
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