Ogier: It was biggest off of my career

Sebastien Ogier has admitted that the accident that saw him retire from the Monte Carlo Rally on Thursday's second leg was the 'biggest of my career' after the French driver comprehensively destroyed his Skoda Fabia.

Ogier was in hugely impressive form at the wheel of the Super 2000-spec machine on the opening day when he made the most of the challenging conditions to run as high as fourth.

The VW Motorsport driver slipped back down the order somewhat on day two as drier conditions benefitted the turbo-powered WRC machines but he still held a top six position before a dramatic accident at nearly 160kph [which can be seen if you click HERE] saw him retire on stage ten.

"That was the biggest accident of my career," Ogier said. "We were lucky that it wasn't worse. I really felt at home in the car. Our speed was very good. The difficult conditions were perfect for us, as we could almost keep pace with the WRC category."

Co-driver Julian Ingrassia suffered bruising to his elbow in the incident and VW motorsport director Kris Nissen expressed his relief that the pair had escaped serious injury.

"To begin with we are extremely happy that Sebastien and Julien are in good health," he said. "Obviously it's a great shame that the two will be unable to celebrate reaching the finish in Monaco, especially as Sebastien had driven incredibly well up to that point. His speed was amazing on the opening stages. This proves that we have signed in Ogier a driver with great potential. We look forward to the other rallies with these two."