On a day full of tension at the Rally of Japan, Oliver Solberg has crashed out of the competition after an accident while fighting for the lead with his Toyota teammate, Elfyn Evans, who currently holds the top position in the World Rally Championship.
Solberg, a recent winner in Montecarlo, was standing out for his performance and had set good times compared to his rivals during the tenth stage. However, the situation changed drastically when he lost control of his GR Yaris on a tight turn and crashed into a tree, causing irreparable damage to the rear of the vehicle.
This premature retirement has allowed Evans to extend his lead over the new world champion, Sébastien Ogier, who is now 14.6 seconds behind him. Evans stated that the encounter with Solberg had affected his pace during the stage, as he had to slow down to pass by the crashed vehicle.
Commenting on the incident, Ogier expressed no surprise at Solberg’s crash, stating that the intensity of the risks he was taking was too high.
On his part, Toyota’s sporting director, Kaj Lindstrom, responded to the criticisms by indicating that the situation was unfortunate and that Solberg would not be able to resume competition that day. This marks Solberg’s third notable exit of the year, having already had crashes in Croatia and the Canary Islands.
With Solberg’s retirement, his teammate Sami Pajari has moved into third place, followed by Takamoto Katsuta in fourth and Adrien Fourmaux rounding out the top 5.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
