Adrien Fourmaux, who was fourth after yesterday, came too fast into a turn on Friday's first stretch, drove into a rock wall with the right side and then overturned over the railing and was thrown down about 30 meters for a precipice.
- It is a really hard and unpleasant crash.
The rock wall works like a catapult.
I estimate that the speed is about 80 kilometers per hour when he is thrown out of the precipice, says SVT's rally expert Jonas Kruse and continues:
- But we can state that the new tubular frame chassis has withstood the hard bang in a very good way.
The cabin looks surprisingly complete considering how the rest of the car looks.
Drivers and map readers also seem to have done well, but were of course slightly shocked after that departure.
The fact that they had survived relatively unharmed was also confirmed by M-Sports' stable manager Richard Millener in an interview shortly after the crash.
Tributes to the safety mindset
Jonas Kruse also believes that the new cars seem to hold up extremely well for violent detours.
- This is the second time we see a major crash with the new cars, then I think of Neuville's departure in connection with tests.
All "credit" to the FIA and the teams for their safety thinking.
- Nor do the hybrid units seem to have caused any problems in connection with these departures.
This is also good news.