PARIS, France (AFP) — Frenchman Sebastien Ogier and his co-pilot Julien Ingrassia were hospitalised on Saturday after spinning off a forest dirt road at the Rally of Finland, which they were leading.

The nine-time world rally champion was racing at around 130kph when he lost control negotiating a series of turns, with his Toyota rolling several times before hitting a tree.

“Both crew members exited the car unassisted before being transported to Tampere hospital for precautionary checks,” World Rally said.

Toyota Assistant Director Juha Kankkunnen said that he had spoken to his drivers.

“Seb was more shocked than anything else, nothing broken,” he told Rally TV.

At the time of the crash, Ogier had been leading by 20 seconds.

Another Toyota driver, Finland’s Sami Pajari, now leads the race by 46 seconds to Oliver Solberg, with championship leader Elfyn Evans in third.

“There are still two long stages to do and anything can still happen,” said Pajari looking ahead to the final day.