You have to watch this spectacular rally car crash

If you’re a rally driver, having your co-driver pull out before a big event is a bit problematic. The navigator, with a wad of Rallyspeak notes in their lap, is effectively the driver’s eyes and ears.

Sadly for French rallyist Robert Consani, this is exactly the predicament he suffered before the last round of the ERC, held in Zlín, Czech Republic.

Even worse, Jérôme Cornebise – Robert’s back-up co-driver –  fell ill just before the recce. This meant that another ballsy Frenchman, Benoit Manzo, had to fill the empty seat despite the fact the pair had only met four days before.

Fast forward to the rally. While being buzzed down by a chopper on the first stage, Consani cut a right-hander too heavily. This sent his little Citroen into the air and towards a ditch on the other side of the road. As any self-respecting rally driver would, he kept his foot in.

However, physics kind of got in the way of Consani’s bravery and took over, throwing the car into seven cartwheels and a couple of somersaults before coming to a rest in a ditch a long, long way from where the incident initially occurred.

You can see it for yourself above. 

Amazingly, both Robert and Benoit got out, dusted themselves down and walked away. We’re very glad they’re both OK, but we must strike up another victory for the real winner here: the FIA spec roll cage.