M-Sport have announced that Sébastien Ogier will not resume Rally Finland on Sunday, electing to give Julien Ingrassia the most recovery time possible ahead of Rally Deutschland following their crash on Friday morning.
Ogier had suffered broken suspension to his Ford Fiesta during the first full loop of stages, causing them to shoot off the road and into trees after a jump. The passenger side bore the brunt of the impact, allowing Ogier to walk away unscatched but leaving Ingrassia dizzy afterwards.
Ingrassia was denied clearance to participate in Saturday’s action by the event’s chief medical officer, Timo Kaukonen, after being diagnosed with a mild concussion.
The British team had brought Ogier’s car back under Rally2 and retired once again at Saturday’s first time check, with the objective of restarting on Sunday and aiming for points from the rally-ending powerstage. Having reviewed the situation again on Saturday, M-Sport elected to withdraw the four time world champion’s entry from the rally altogether.
“The main objective is now to ensure that co-driver Ingrassia has the best opportunity to be fully fit for Rallye Deutschland where the championship battle is set to continue,” read a statement from the team.
Kaukonen had initially put a 15 day suspension on Ingrassia’s ability to compete due to his concussion, which ends five days before the first stage of Rally Deutschland on August 17.
