There are certain sentences that I have always wanted to write and these next couple happen to have been on the list. In this video you’ll see WRC rally star Petter Solberg crash during a 2012 French WRC rally. Solberg drives off the road, through a vineyard, across the road, through more of the vineyard and then into the most randomly placed telephone/electrical pole in all of France. Incidentally, the pole falls over in virtual slow motion, causing awesome sparks and light flashes that are straight from the special effects department.

There’s no other form of racing on Earth that could ever have a crash like this. Through a vineyard? Seriously? That’s the great thing about rally. This week it is rolling through a damned vineyard and next week it could be off a cliff in the Alps somewhere. You just never know what’s next. What I found most interesting about the video, other than laughing until I cried while watching the facial expressions of Solberg and his co-driver as leaves, grapes, and vines came launching into the car, over the car, and around it, is that Solberg kept into the throttle because he knew a clearing was coming that would meet the road. Unfortunately, that clearing was so narrow Petter cruised right on past it and was on a bee line for the now infamous pole. I wish he would have barked out in Norwegian, “Who the hell put THAT there?!” Solberg and co driver were fine, other than their pride and one race car that was tore up from the floor up after chopping down the pole.

Here’s a quote from a post wreck interview with Solberg, “But I couldn’t see very well because of the leaves and foliage all over the windscreen. I didn’t know we were across the road – I was expecting to see a much more wide-open area when we went over [the road]. And then we went straight to the pole. I don’t know exactly what happened. We need to look at it more before I can comment.”

Press play to see this whole scene unfold!