Reigning World Rally champion Thierry Neuville has crashed out of Central European Rally on the first stage of Sunday.
The Hyundai driver was too fast through a tightening left-hander and hit the end of a bridge, that was protected by a haybale, 2.6 miles onto the Beyond Borders test.
Both he and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe are OK, but the stage was cancelled due to his car blocking the road and the debris the accident left. Sébastien Ogier, Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean were the only cars to complete it.
Neuville retired from seventh place on the event, but the crash all but ends his title defense as he trails the current championship leader by 58 points and is set to score no points. There is a maximum of 70 points available after CER.
Explaining what happened, Neuville said: “Everything was like normal, just I made an appreciation mistake between the bridge and actually the concrete was a small gap. We wanted to go fast, I saw that gap, I went there and I realized it wasn’t there. I turned and we took the bridge in the middle of the car.
“My mistake. I should have been able to avoid that, but as often in rallying, the smallest mistake can have massive consequences. It was a proper shunt. Luckily the cars and the safety equipment saved us from any injuries.”
