In the World Rally Championship in Greece, the fourth special stage was suspended citing the safety of the spectators. Esapekka Lap’s car camera showed how dangerous a place one of the spectators was.
The World Rally Championship in Greece saw an eventful Friday morning, which “culminated” in the suspension of the fourth special stage. The interruption was due to the spectators being in areas not belonging to them during the special test.
Esapekka Lapin the image from the car camera shows how close one viewer is to the road in a right-hand bend. Watch the wild looking video from the main photo of this story.
The Rally World Series urged spectators on social media to stay safe and in the areas intended for them.
‘s expert Henri Haapamäki deplores the current phenomenon, where spectators tend to get close to the road, usually in the hope of pictures and videos.
– It is unfortunately common for the audience to be positioned really close to the road. Especially nowadays, when everyone wants to have the best video taken, Haapamäki states.
He says that there are also cultural differences between different countries in the behavior of viewers. For example, in Finland, viewers are hardly in places like the video.
Haapamäki reminds us that orderlies cannot be next to each other during a special test. In this way, people can also move outside the areas demarcated for them. They can cause dangerous situations.
– For example, a stone the size of a fist can bounce off a car’s tire and it’s really bad, which would also be a shocking place for the driver.
Haapamäki adds that the driver’s concentration can be lost, because the driver has time to notice the onlooker if he is completely stuck on the road. An experienced rally man says that the videos shot by spectators spreading on social media are scary at worst these days.
– The audience sometimes stands in places that look scary, Haapamäki blows.
It was not yet known how the organizers would act regarding the results of the suspended fourth special exam. The Rally2 cars did not make it to the route at all. in the WRC class Ott Tänak delayed his departure due to a technical fault. Although he finally got his car in such condition that it would have been possible to start on the short cut, the Estonian driver did not have time for the special test due to the interruption.
Kalle Rovanperä is fighting for the top spot, even though he has to drive the first car in Friday’s special tests. So far, Lapland has not reached the top speed. In addition, his Hyundai had a radiator failure after the fourth special test and the Finnish driver was not sure what condition they would get the radiator in.
The situation of the rally for the drivers who had time to drive the fourth special test (4/15 EK driven):
1. Thierry Neuville, Hyundai 24.01.9
2. Sebastien Ogier, Toyota + 2.4
3. Kalle Rovanperä, Toyota + 5.8
4. Esapekka Lappi, Hyundai + 15.6
4. Elfyn Evans, Toyota + 15.6
6. Dani Sordo, Hyundai + 19.5
7. Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota + 24.6