Teemu Suninen and Sami Pajari experienced a dangerous situation in the Japan World Cup Rally on Friday, when a civilian car made it to a special test.
The jury of the competition took a more detailed investigation into the incident that happened during the fourth special test of the competition on Friday. The special test was in progress, but a car slipped onto the track from somewhere and started driving in the opposite direction from the competitors.
The race director told the jury that the car had come to a stop at the intersection, which was closed with a barricade, but where there was no law enforcement officer. After this Teemu Suninen and Sami Pajari ran into a car and fortunately were able to avoid a head-on collision.
The car was eventually steered away from the special test and the special test was interrupted.
The jury investigated the case based on video evidence obtained from the racing cars. The jury says in its decision that, based on the videos, it was very unlikely that the intersection in question would have been closed with barrier tape.
– The barrier tape can be seen attached and rolled around a post on one side of the road ready to be attached on the other side of the road. It is highly unlikely that the barrier tape would have been removed and then rolled onto the pole by anyone after it was attached to the other side of the road, the jury’s decision said.
– The video footage of the cars that drove the special test earlier supports this conclusion. The intersection was open without tape. It seems that the civilian car was able to turn unhindered for the special test.
Serious mistake
Teemu Suninen on the track in the World Rally Japan. PDO
According to the jury, the organizers made a serious security mistake in the case. The seriousness of the situation was increased by the fact that it was not an ending road, i.e. the intersection in question could be accessed via other public roads.
– The jury considers that the organizers should have placed an orderly officer or at least an obstacle on the road, such as a parked car, to prevent vehicles from entering the special test.
The jury did not impose a penalty on the competition organization for the case, but in the future the organizers must pay more attention and reserve more resources for the safety of special tests. Similar dangerous situations must not happen again.
The international automobile association FIA is taking the situation for an even more detailed follow-up investigation, because it was a serious incident.