The Hyundai driver appeared to lock up under braking on the incredibly slippery wet asphalt, littered with leaves and pine needles, and went off the road, 11.8km into the Isegami’s Tunnel stage (24.67km). Sordo’s i20N darted to left before swiping some trees as the car slid down an embankment.
Both driver and co-driver Candido Carrera were reported to be okay, but with the car in a precarious position organisers elected to red flag the stage, with only six cars completing the test.
Sordo retired from rally on the same stage last year when his car went up in flames.
The Hyundai driver wasn’t the only Rally1 competitor to hit trouble as home hero Takamoto Katsuta had a moment at the same corner as Sordo just minutes before the Spaniard.
Katsuta was setting the pace before he suffered a spin and damaged the radiator of his i20N. He managed to reach the stage end but under red flag conditions. He pulled off on the following road section to undergo repairs on his car.
M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux, on his return to Rally1 competition, also went off the road and failed to reach the stage end.
Source: Autosport