Guy Wilks suffered two fractured vertebrae in his crash on the first stage of the Rally Italia-Sardegna this morning.
The Skoda UK driver thought he had escaped the accident relatively unharmed, but was airlifted to hospital for checks having reported pain in his lower pack. He was then diagnosed with fractures to his first and second lumbar vertebrae.
"I'm annoyed to be in a hospital bed instead of being on the stages," Wilks said. "Obviously, it's massively frustrating to be injured and not out there competing because I've missed a massive opportunity and I know that. I'm just really disappointed for the team and for Skoda UK."
Wilks' accident came only a quarter of the way into today's opening stage.
"We had a good road position so we were pushing hard," he explained. "We got to an almost flat-left corner seven kilometers into the stage when an error with our pacenotes caused us to leave the road at high speed and that was pretty much it.
Although Wilks will remain in hospital overnight, at present it is hoped that he can return to the UK on Monday.