Sixth-placed Benito Guerra gave himself a fright when he went off the road and hit a tree in the 43.06km Otatitos (SS15) – a shorter version of the 53.69km Otates stage used this morning.
The impact damaged the door on Guerra’s side of his Ford Fiesta RS and it is now firmly wedged shut. The Mexican also hit his elbow in the incident but his concerns were more about the state of the car.
“I think the car is OK. I was trying to push a bit harder but I missed my braking point and we slid off. It was scary seeing that tree getting closer. It’s the most horrible thing when you see it coming to you,” he said.
Sébastien Ogier’s stage win was the Volkswagen squad’s 12th victory from 15 stages here. They have now won 40 of the 52 tests this season, a strike ratio of almost 77 per cent!