Tanak suffers major smash at Rallye Monte Carlo

Ott Tanak🏅 has endured a nightmare start to the defence of his World Rally Championship crown after suffering a huge off at Rallye Monte Carlo.

The Estonian driver came off 9.2 kilo꧑metres into the 2൲0.68km fourth stage of the 2020 WRC opener after drifting off the road and down a steep verge which sent him and co-driver Martin Jarveoja into a violent crash which saw them tumble a hill before stopping on the road below.

Ott Tanak, Hyundai, WRC,
Ott Tanak, Hyundai, WRC,
© Hyundai

Ott Tanak has endured a nightmare start to the defence of his W🐷orld Rally Championship crown after suffering a huge off at♛ Rallye Monte Carlo.

The Estonian driver came off 9.2 kilometres into the 20.68km fourth stage of the 2020 WRC opener after🤪 drifting off the road and down a steep verge which sent him and co-driver Martin Jarveoja into a violent crash which saw them tumble a hill before stopping on the road below.

Onboard replays sho🐷wed Tanak dropping his front-right wheel on to an icy grass verge going into a small chicane which unsettled his Hyundai before tumbling off the road at around 180km/h.

Both Tanak and Jarveoja were reported as okay by officials after the 💃crash but, unsurprisingly, have retired from the running at Rallye Monte Carlo. The pair have been sent to hospital for precautionary checks as standard procedure following a heavy crash.

It marks a disaster start to Tanak’s WRC title defence in 20✅20 having lifted the world championship last year with Toyota Gazoo Racing before moving to Hyundai this winter.

  & Martin rolled on SS4 - crew OK.

— Hyundai Motorsport (@HMSGOfficial)

In aꦰ stat▨ement released by Hyundai, the team confirmed both driver and co-driver were able to exit the car on their own after the accident and have been taken to hospital to be kept in overnight as a precaution.

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