How the WRC drivers reacted to Rovanperä’s Finland crash

The 23-year-old was set to end Finland’s seven-year wait for a native driver to win the event when he crashed while holding a near 50-second lead. Adding to the pain was the fact it was unavoidable.

When Rovanperä had already committed to the high-speed left-hander towards the end of Sahloinen-Moksi, a rogue rock was sitting on the optimum line. With no time to change his GR Yaris Rally1's trajectory, Rovanperä hit the rock which bounced the car off the line and sent it into a spectacular roll.

Sébastien Ogier, who inherited the victory as a result of his team-mate’s demise, joined several other drivers in offering commiserations to Rovanperä.

"It's a little bit too brutal, if you ask me,” he said. “I would have honestly preferred finishing second right now. But motorsport is like this, sometimes it's unfair. I lost the win in Sardinia with bad luck, and today I got it with luck. It's weird, for sure, but I can't help feeling this way."

“For Kalle, I really felt physically bad when I heard this,” admitted Hyundai Motorsport star and fellow Finn Esapekka Lappi. “I mean, it was kind of a similar situation to what we had on Friday - the car was undrivable for one-tenth of a second, it moves the front out of the line and then you hit something. It’s just so raw; this sport is raw. On these kinds of rallies, you cannot just watch out for all of the corners and wait for what will happen, because you will lose minutes per day. You need to commit always, it's just very bad luck.”

Takamoto Katsuta was in disbelief: “It's a bit unbelievable, and I still can't believe it. Kalle is a very strong guy, mentally he is very strong and very calm. He was okay, for sure, but I can feel that this is not an easy moment and I feel for him so much. We are all pushing on the limit and there is no margin; it can happen, but it's very tough.”

Championship leader Thierry Neuville, whose title hopes were bolstered by Elfyn Evans crashing earlier in the same stage, added: “Elfyn's off was a big surprise, and then Kalle's off - it felt like a little heart attack at some point and you think maybe they sent the wrong message or something, but then you realise that he is actually off. Then you have to analyse what's the situation, what does it do for the championship, how many points do we get, and what are we going to do for the Power Stage. You’re constantly thinking, analysing, and adjusting the target.”

M-Sport Ford hotshot Adrien Fourmaux, who climbed onto the podium as a result of the dramatic stage, said: “The first thing I said to Alex [Coria, co-driver] was 'are they okay?'. He told me yes, and I knew that now we are on the podium. It shows that we need to cross the line to say that we are winning or we are on the podium, and that's why it's so intense with rally - it can happen even on the last stages. It's really unlucky for Kalle, but this is rally, isn't it? He deserved [the win], anyway.”