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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 collapsed inflatable promotional arch during the Rally Latvia.

Stage 14 took place in the strangest circumstances of the season, as a promotion team brought fourth-placed Tanak to a halt.

Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja retrieved the arch that lay across the road after Toyota’s Elfyn Evans hit the inflatable structure during a wild moment during his overtaking manoeuvre, causing the arch to deflate and collapse.

The stage had not been red-flagged before Tanak arrived at the scene, and as a result his i20 became entangled in the arch. The stage was eventually stopped to resolve the incident, with Tanak, Takamoto Katsuta and Adrien Fourmaux given nominal times after being caught up in the aftermath of the red flag.

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A frustrated Tanak took issue with race management for not stopping the stage earlier.

“I think that describes exactly how safe we ​​are in the hands of the race management. They were probably having a nice meal and drinking good wine when you could see on the cameras that the road was blocked and a car was coming. Well done race management, you are really looking after us,” Tanak said on the television broadcast.

“We’re fine, but f****** hell, you could see the road was blocked and you let him go. Hopefully it was a good wine.”

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

The event organisers have since released the following statement to explain what happened: “Car number 33 (Elfyn Evans) left the stage and damaged the supports of an inflatable surf arch towards the end of SS14 on Saturday afternoon during the Tet Rally Latvia.

“It was clear that there was damage to the arch and two workers, who were specially positioned to ensure the safety of the arch, immediately began work to remove it from the road. They were unable to do so until car number 8 (Ott Tanak) arrived.”

Although the incident ultimately had no consequences for the standings, Hyundai team boss Cyril Abiteboul is keen to provide answers to ensure this incident does not happen again in the future.

“The bizarre thing is how much time it took for everyone responsible for monitoring the situation and assessing what to do,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.

“We live in a world of extreme connectivity, extreme agility, and I think we need to make sure that we have the devices necessary to be able to raise a red flag if there is something that completely blocks the road. They (Ott and Martin) had absolutely no way out, nowhere to go.

“The FIA ​​has contacted us and I think we really need to have a thorough investigation into what happened and what the current system is.

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

“I would simply call for a clear and transparent investigation into the steps that will be taken to ensure this does not happen again in the future, because it is abundantly clear that there was ample time to stop the matter.”

When asked if he thought Tanak should receive a penalty for his comments directed at race control, Abiteboul added: “I hope common sense will prevail instead of spending time on a penalty. We should spend more resources, time and effort on understanding how it can happen or how it can be avoided in the future.”

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