The 12th special stage of Rally Japan was cancelled due to the presence of a non-competing on the start-line.
Six competing crews were able to start Ena 1, the final stage of Saturday morning’s loop, but Toyota driver Elfyn Evans was held on the start-line and the stage was ultimately cancelled for him and the rest of the field.
TV pictures briefly showed a minivan facing Evans’ stationary GR Yaris Rally1, which Evans described as “a bit of a surprise”.
Both he and co-driver Scott Martin were quick to praise the marshals in how they dealt with the scenario.
Evans told DirtFish: “They dealt with it the best they could. I mean, nobody’s expecting that situation, clearly.”
Martin added: “The marshals must have got some sort of news. There was some commotion anyway and then the next thing we saw was a van coming towards us on the start-line.
“It all got handled well I think, the marshals acted accordingly, but unfortunately we didn’t get to do the stage.”
Rally leader Ott Tänak was the car directly behind Evans in the start queue.
“[It’s] happened before, unfortunately, but yeah, let’s see,” Tänak told DirtFish.
“I mean, yeah, these things can have quite big consequences, so… yeah, let’s see what is the action.”
Rally Japan has had issues with the presence of non-competing vehicles on live stages before.
An FIA and WRC statement provided to DirtFish read: “Special Stage 12 of FORUM8 Rally Japan has been stopped for safety reasons following a security incident. Shortly before the seventh competition car started the stage, an unauthorised vehicle entered and blocked the start line.
“The stage was therefore immediately stopped, and the rest of the competitors were instructed to follow an alternative route to the next regroup. The local authorities are now in attendance and we will continue to work with them to ensure that the incident is dealt with appropriately.”
Additional reporting by David Evans and Alasdair Lindsay.
