Ott Tänak rolled out of Rally Estonia in the first full stage on Saturday morning, putting an early end to his home outing in a Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
Tänak was running in the national category of the event, which this year is being held as a European Rally Championship round during what is expected to be a one-off absence from the World Rally Championship calendar.
The crash happened in the 13.3-mile Raanitsa stage, which was running in the same form as it had in the WRC for the past couple of years.
In a video posted from the scene, the Hyundai appears to lose control over a jump, pitching it into a high-speed roll. The car came to rest in a ditch with significant damage, but both Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja are seen standing by the wreckage.
“Due to the nature of the crash, the crew were taken to hospital for precautionary medical checks with both Ott and Martin feeling OK,” read a Hyundai statement.
“Unfortunately it will not be possible to participate further on Rally Estonia due to the amount of work needed to repair the car.”
It is the second early incident in as many weekends for Tänak, whose hopes of winning Rally Poland ended when his car struck a deer in the first stage of Friday morning.
His exit from Rally Estonia limits any chance to gain extra mileage on fast gravel roads before the next WRC round in Latvia in a fortnight.
