Earlier on Saturday morning, during the first run of the Amarante stage of Rally Portugal, Kris Meeke collided with a tree and absolutely demolished his Citroën. During a fast left-hand turn, Meeke went off the road and wasn’t able to stop before he and his co-driver Paul Nagle were thrown into the forest.

Despite the fact that the C3 looks like it saw the business end of a tornado, both Meeke and Nagle were able to exit the car of their own accord. However, according to , Meeke reported some back pain that saw the Irish driver airlifted away from the circuit, more as a precautionary measure than an emergency. He’s now being checked out in a hospital in Porto.

It’s pretty bad news for Meeke, who had been putting in a good performance during Friday’s stages. He’d been eligible for victory until a puncture in the last stage set him back to seventh, but, at only a minute down with two full days left to run, there was a good chance he could fight his way back to the top. Unfortunately, he’s now entirely out of contention.

A season that started off looking promising is now looking to take a turn for the worst. While he did score a podium in Mexico, this retirement will be his second out of six races.

There is yet to be a follow-up statement on Meeke’s condition, but since he was able to move on his own, it seems like the Irish driver should walk away just fine.