Rallying-Championship leader Rovanpera crashes out in Croatia

"Super annoyed, the whole opening stage was super slippery and we were struggling with a lot of understeer. "I still tried to push, but on this fast right hander grip just completely disappeared and we understeered off the road into the trees." Rovanpera, son of former WRC driver Harri, had a four point lead in the championship over Hyundai's Belgian Neuville after February's Arctic Rally. Neuville won three of the morning's four stages and was 7.7 seconds clear of Toyota's seven times world champion Sebastien Ogier, who won three stages in a row in the afternoon, after the first leg.

World championship leader Kalle Rovanpera crashed out of the Rally of Croatia before he could complete the opening stage on Friday, with rival Thierry Neuville setting the pace through the first leg.

Toyota's Rovanpera careered off the road after 5.4km of the 6.9km first stage from Rude to Plesivica, the shortest of the event which is making its debut on the championship calendar. The Zagreb-based asphalt rally is the third round of the championship with 20-year-old Rovanpera the youngest ever leader.

The Finn and co-driver Jonne Halttunen walked away unhurt from the accident, with in-car video footage showing the Toyota plunging off road and ending up among trees with a smashed windscreen. Rovanpera had hoped to rejoin on Saturday, with the possibility of at least scoring points in the final power stage on Sunday, but Toyota said after an inspection that the car was too badly damaged.

"Really sorry for the team, this was my mistake and I will learn from this," the driver said on Twitter. "Super annoyed, the whole opening stage was super slippery and we were struggling with a lot of understeer.

"I still tried to push, but on this fast right hander grip just completely disappeared and we understeered off the road into the trees." Rovanpera, son of former WRC driver Harri, had a four point lead in the championship over Hyundai's Belgian Neuville after February's Arctic Rally.

Neuville won three of the morning's four stages and was 7.7 seconds clear of Toyota's seven times world champion Sebastien Ogier, who won three stages in a row in the afternoon, after the first leg. Toyota's Elfyn Evans was third, a further 0.3 behind, and Hyundai's Ott Tanak fourth.