– Shaken up but uninjured: Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia narrowly escaped a disaster at the Rally Finland, the tenth round of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC), last Saturday.
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On the 17th special stage, the duo went off the road at high speed and drove into the forest, where the Toyota GR Yaris rolled over several times. The consequences of the wild crash were especially more dramatic for Ogier than Ingrassia initially suspected.
“I saw Seb get out and realized I was not injured, so I followed the protocol,” he told the French newspaper L’Equipe. “I pressed the OK button in the car, which signals to the officials that we do not need emergency assistance, so the stage can continue. But after I did that, I saw Seb lie down in the grass and lose consciousness.”
Dramatic moments: “There was no sound and no image”
From that moment on, the accident took on a completely new dimension for Ingrassia, who was competing together with Ogier in Finland for the first time since 2021. “I immediately activated the emergency call button and ran to Seb. His eyes no longer blinked – there was no sound and no image,” he reports.
With the help of some spectators, Ingrassia stabilized his driver’s head while fanning Ogier with the notepad for the notes. “That was a worrying moment,” Ingrassia recalls.
“I had never dealt with anything like that in my life, but I knew it was important to stay calm. After raising the alarm, I called the team to give them a medical assessment of the situation,” said the Frenchman. “I also turned off the car because there was a fire risk. Gradually, as people talked to him and everyone was around him, Seb regained consciousness. At that moment, the rescue teams also arrived.”
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Ruts in the track were probably the cause of the accident
They transported Ogier by rescue helicopter to a hospital, where no injuries were found. Ogier stayed overnight in the clinic for observation. Ingrassia also had to spend the night in the hospital. Ultimately, both were able to give the all-clear.
Ingrassia, who had not competed in the World Championship for five years, admitted that “the impact was severe” after they entered the curve at “about 140 km/h.” According to current knowledge, neither a technical defect nor a driving error was the cause of the spectacular accident.
“A bicycle rut had formed in the curve, which catapulted the car to the left instead of allowing it to steer to the right. That’s why the onboard footage looks so strange,” Ingrassia reports.
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In conclusion, he thanks the FIA and manufacturer Toyota for the great safety of the Rally1 cars, which saved him and Ogier from worse consequences. “The latest generation of vehicles is incredibly stable, and that really helped us,” said Ingrassia.
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