Summary World championship leader Sabastien Ogier suffered a setback in the Rally of Finland on Friday.
JYVASKYLA (AFP) - World championship leader Sabastien Ogier suffered a setback in the Rally of Finland on Friday, failing to finish the first full day of racing because of a broken suspension.
The reigning four-time world champion and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia were taken to hospital for tests after their Ford Fiesta went off the road on the fourth stage.
"There was a big jump that we negotiated a bit too tight. The landing was quite violent and the rear shocks didn t take the impact," explained Ogier.
"We re a little stunned but nothing serious. I m more or less okay, Julien is a little shocked and he needs time to recover completely."
Depending on Ingrassia s recovery the pair will return either Saturday or Sunday to try and gain points in the power stage.
"It s the best we can hope for this weekend," added the 33-year-old Ogier, winner in Finland in 2013 and runner-up three times.
New Zealand s Hayden Paddon also failed to finish the day after the Hyundai driver broke his suspension on SS4.
Ogier s Estonian teammate Ott Tanak had been leading until SS4 but lost ground after a stone damaged a wheel on his M-Sport Ford.
Finns dominated the day, the longest on the world championship schedule, with Toyota s Esapekka Lappi leading at the end of the 12 stages.
The 26-year-old, who had never before led a world championship rally in his career, has a 4.4sec advantage over teammate Jari-Matti Latvala.
Teemu Suninen, in a Ford Fiesta, is 19sec off the pace.
Belgian Thierry Neuville, second behind Ogier in the world standings, failed to profit from his rival s misfortune as the Hyundai driver trailed in eighth place, 58sec behind the leader.
