Car going the wrong way, safety procedure under investigation, fire: the organization of the Rally Japan is hara-kiri

It has now been 3 years since the rally of Japan is trying to come back WRC. This should have implied that after so much preparation, there should have been no sushi. However, this quickly turned out to be false. The first special stage of the day started late. This happens sometimes, but starting out like this doesn't give a very good image.

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Et que dire que ce qu’il s’est passé ensuite ? Lorsque Dani Sordo et Candido Carrera ont essayé tout ce qu’ils pouvaient pour éteindre l’incendie qui était en train de ravager leur Hyundai i20 Rally1, ils ont dû se résoudre à la regarder brûler. Dans leur malheur, ils ont eu la chance que personne ne soit blessé ni dans l’équipage ni parmi des membres du public, car les secours n’ont gagné les lieux qu’1 heure et 10 minutes plus tard… Inquiétant.

The region where the special stages are held is complicated to access, the roads are so narrow that security personnel struggled to reach the blaze. If they had arrived earlier, they wouldn't have been able to do much anyway, because they were only carrying water and that might not have been able to stop the carbon from disappearing into ash. .

A car going the wrong way!

The second incident occurred on the following stage, when Craig Breen went off the road. Having failed to see the OK signal indicating that the crew was unhurt, Emil Lindholm decided to stop to make sure that Craig and James Fulton were okay. While doing this, he triggered an alarm that should have appeared in the Rally2s behind him warning them of danger. Obviously, this system did not work in the following Rally2s.

Still in racing mode, Sami Pajari overtook Lindholm's parked Fabia and it was he who was the first to avoid the local resident who was traveling on the special in the opposite direction. An identical mishap happened to Teemu Suninen. The narrowness of the roadway made this encounter particularly frightening. "I don't even know how I managed not to hit her, said one of the Nordics on condition of anonymity, I had a reflex that I can't explain. »

Reassured after seeing Breen and Fulton, Lindholm continued on his way and came across this famous white car just as it was leaving the SS without any marshal being there to stop him. The three drivers mentioned then decided not to go any further in this special which could have turned into a tragedy. AUTO maintenance requesthebdo which was made to the FIA ​​and the promoter has not yet been successful.

The FIA ​​says the red flag procedure was activated after Breen's crash, but it appears none of the 3 Finns had this information. It seems to have occurred later, after the crews had stopped. The FIA ​​produced a statement to clarify its position: “There was a serious breach of security protocol in SS4, which is currently under investigation, it is explained. Sfollowing an accident involving car no. 42 (Breen), the special stage was red flagged.

Very quickly afterwards, a car was identified on site. There were no accidents or injuries, but an investigation is underway. FIA representatives WRC Task Force, taking part in Rally Japan, were deployed to Friday afternoon's stages and additional safety cars covered the stages to help organizers ensure a higher level of safety. »

After the morning's events, the second part of the day at Rally Japan went off without a hitch, but questions remain.