A mistake made by staff during Rajd Śląska 2018 (Rally of Silesia) led to a car being released onto the Special Stage while a different vehicle was approaching.
The Rally organisers have released an explanation:
The final stage of Rajd Śląska 2018 (SS 9 Suszec) was a looping course. During this stage the crew #7 (Poloński/Sitek) entered the rally course directly in front of the approaching crew #4 (Gabryś/Natkaniec), who were on their second lap.
After a detailed analysis of the circumstances, the stewards have decided to correct the time of the #4 crew to compensate for time lost due to the aforementioned incident. This is especially important as the incident occured during a Power Stage, where the fastest teams can earn additional championship points.
At the start of the stage, the #4 car’s GPS transmitter failed. The device is normally used to determine a car’s location within the rally stage. Additionally, mutual interference caused by high radio traffic meant the main steward was not informed that the #4 car was approaching and the #7 car musn’t be released.
It is obvious that this incident will be a matter of further analysis to prevent similar occurences in the future. The organisers would also like to apologise to all involved parties.