On Saturday, August 1, 2026, reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier and stand-in co-driver Julien Ingrassia were flown to hospital for medical checks after crashing out of Rally Finland. The crash occurred on stage 17, the penultimate stage of the day, where Ogier's car rolled several times after going off the road at speed. At the time of the accident, Ogier and Ingrassia had been leading the event by 20.9 seconds.

The Toyota team confirmed on X that both Frenchmen exited the wrecked car unassisted and were "generally OK." They were taken to a hospital in Tampere by helicopter for further evaluation, which Toyota's deputy-team principal Juha Kankkunen described as important following such an accident. Kankkunen added, "Seb was more shocked than anything else, nothing broken."

Ingrassia, who retired as Ogier's regular co-driver in 2021, was standing in due to the absence of Vincent Landais for personal reasons. Meanwhile, Ogier's teammate Elfyn Evans also experienced a roll earlier in the day but was able to continue after assistance from spectators.

Despite Ogier's crash, Toyota remained on track for a podium sweep by the end of the leg. Sami Pajari, competing in his home event, inherited the lead and was 46.4 seconds ahead of teammate Oliver Solberg, with Evans in third place, one minute and 36.3 seconds behind.

Sources