Oliver Solberg crashed out of second place on the penultimate stage of Rally Islas Canarias.
The Toyota driver started SS17 of 18 just 2.2 seconds shy of rally leader Sébastien Ogier, but made a mistake two stages from home.
Coming over a crest Solberg gets the line wrong and drifts wide for a right-hander, smacking a barrier on the left. He continued for a few corners but instantly knew the car was too badly damaged with a wheel missing, leaving him to park the car on the stage.
Solberg’s exit promotes Elfyn Evans to second and Sami Pajari to third, and means he’ll score zero championship points from the weekend.
With one stage to go, Ogier leads the event by 24.3s.
“Definitely not the way we wanted to see it,” Ogier said. “Oliver was doing a great job until that point but rallying is tough. Being fast is important, being at the end even more. I never panic when I see him pushing, I just keep my rhythm. Sorry for you Oliver, I’m sure we’ll have some more battle.”
