(Reuters) – Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanpera will replace Sebastien Ogier at Toyota in this week’s Rally Poland after the French driver was ruled out by a collision while preparing for the event, the team said on Wednesday.
Rovanpera, 23, was due to skip the rally as the Finn takes time out this year to recharge after winning two championships in succession.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais had to withdraw on Tuesday after the collision with another car during a reconnaissance run.
The eight-times world champion was kept in hospital overnight and discharged on Wednesday morning. Landais was given the all-clear on Tuesday.
Toyota said Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen had flown late on Tuesday to the rally’s base in Mikolajki, ready for the seventh round of the season.
The Japanese manufacturer is 13 points behind Hyundai in the standings and Rovanpera joins Welshman Elfyn Evans and Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta in the team lineup.
“I was just changing some spark plugs on my jet-ski to go on the lake and he called,” Rovanpera said of the summons from Toyota sporting director Kai Lindstrom. “I knew what it was about.
“On a rally like this I would want to fight for the win, maybe this week it is not really so easy to do but we will of course do our best to bring some good points for the team.”
The rally, which starts on Thursday evening, is returning to the calendar after a seven-year absence.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond)
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