Following the decision to cancel Saturday's RX1e races, a brief statement issued on Friday evening stated that World RX's second-tier RX2e championship and the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy would continue as planned but with no track action for the RX1e cars.
A further update was issued late on Saturday evening that explained the decision "to permanently stop round four of the World Rallycross RX1e championship for safety reasons".
Both Lancia-badged cars fielded by Guerlain Chicherit's Special One outfit, including one due to be raced by Sebastien Loeb, were destroyed along with a team transporter in the blaze on Friday. Fortunately, nobody was injured.
The stewards bulletin said that from video evidence, it had deduced "that the fire was initiated at the battery of the car while it was in the team area charging, but it is not clear why this happened".
Battery manufacturer Kreisel has supported investigations initiated by the FIA with the cooperation of the Kent Fire service, Lydden Hill track staff and the championship promoter.
But the update stated that "the investigation has not progressed far enough to determine a root cause for the failure that led to the fire. Nor will the investigation be able to find the root cause in time for the event to proceed with the assurance of the appropriate level of safety for the spectators, team members and drivers".
Source: Autosport