Hyundai calls for investigation into bizarre Tanak Arch incident

Hyundai has called for a “clear and transparent” investigation to understand why its World Rally Championship driver Ott Tanak was delayed by a toppled inflatable advertising arch during the Rally Latvia.

One of the strangest incidents of the season occurred on stage 14, when an advertising banner stopped fourth-placed Tanak.

Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja collected the arch, which was lying across the road, after Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, in a wild moment of overtaking, grazed the inflatable structure, causing the arch to lose air and collapse.

The stage was not red-flagged before Tanak arrived on the scene, and that is why his i20 got caught in the bend. The stage was eventually red-flagged to clarify the incident, while Tanak, Takamoto Katsuta and Adrien Fourmaux were given nominal times after the red flag.

A frustrated Tanak criticised the race organisers for not stopping the stage earlier, saying they had been eating and drinking during the incident.

The event organisers have since issued the following statement on the incidents: “Car number 33 (Elfyn Evans) exited the stage towards the end of SS14 on Saturday afternoon at the Tet Rally Latvia, damaging the supports of an inflatable brand arch.

“It was clear that the arch was damaged and two personnel specifically stationed to ensure the arch’s safety immediately moved to remove it from the road. However, they were unable to do so before car number 8 (Ott Tanak) arrived.”

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

Although the incident ultimately had no impact on the standings, Hyundai team boss Cyril Abiteboul wants answers to ensure this incident is not repeated in the future.

“What is bizarre is the time it has taken for everyone responsible for monitoring the situation and assessing how to proceed,” Abiteboul told Autosport.

“We live in a world of extreme connectivity and agility and I think we should make sure we have the devices we need to detect when something is completely blocking the road. For them (Ott and Martin) there was absolutely no way out, they had nowhere to go.

“The FIA ​​​​has reached out (to us) and I think we really need to do a thorough investigation into what happened and what the existing system looks like.

“Was the system down because of the aircraft situation (the WRC TV relay aircraft was grounded in the afternoon due to a technical problem)? But if that is the case, there should be emergency measures.

“I am simply calling for a clear and transparent investigation into the steps being taken to ensure that this does not happen again in the future, because it is abundantly clear that there was enough time to mark the stage.”

When asked if he thought Tanak would receive a penalty for his comments to race officials, Abiteboul replied: “I hope that common sense prevails rather than wasting time on a penalty. We should devote more resources, time and effort to understanding how this can happen or how it can be avoided in the future.”