FIA conducting WRC Latvia arch incident review, Tanak apologises

The FIA is conducting a review into a “potentially dangerous” incident where an inflatable promotional arch halted Ott Tanak during the World Rally Championship’s visit to Latvia.

The WRC title contender collected a deflated promotional arch that was lying in the road after Toyota’s Elfyn Evans made contact with the structure while recovering from a wild slide moments earlier.

The stage wasn’t red-flagged quickly enough to avoid Tanak’s i20 N becoming entangled in the felled structure. Officials eventually red-flagged the stage to clear the incident and issued nominal times to Tanak, Adrien Fourmaux and Takamoto Katsuta, who were also impacted. 

When television crews spoke to Tanak at the end of the stage, the frustrated driver took aim at race control, saying: “I think this exactly describes how we are in safe hands in terms of race control. Probably they were having a nice meal and good wine when on the cameras you could see the road is blocked and there is a car coming. Well done race control, you are really taking care of us.”

“We are ok but f****** hell, you could see the road was blocked and you keep it running. Hopefully, it was a good wine.”

Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul called for transparent review of the incident to understand how it can be avoided in the future.

At the end of the rally, the FIA, Rally Latvia organisers and Hyundai released a joint statement confirming that a review is underway and that Tanak has apologised for his comments directed at rally control.

“Following the incident involving Car 8 [Tanak] on Special Stage 14, a thorough review by the FIA is ongoing. The driver, Ott Tanak and team representative met with the FIA representatives on site to review the situation, which all agree was potentially dangerous,” read the statement.

“Discussing the situation, Tanak agreed that his comments following the stage were not in the best interest of the sport, but that they were made in the moments immediately following the incident. He apologised for his comments about Rally Control but welcomed the upcoming review.

“Hyundai Motorsport, the organiser and the FIA are collaborating to better understand the incident and to work together towards the continuous improvement of the safety systems in the sport, which is a critical goal of the FIA.”