Only four Rally1 cars managed to finish the day’s second special stage before the rally organisers interrupted the stage. Shortly after, an announcement was made that the special stage was cancelled entirely.
The reason for the cancellation was that spectators were in the wrong places watching the special stage, leaving the organisers with no choice but to cancel the entire section.
Before the cancellation, only Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, and Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta had reached the end of the stage.
The remaining four Rally1 cars did not start the stage and will be given so-called notional times later.
Poland returned to the World Rally Championship calendar this season after a seven-year break. The last time the WRC event was held in Poland was in 2017, after which the rally lost its World Championship status.
One of the main reasons behind losing its WRC status was precisely because spectators in Poland caused far too many dangerous situations.
Unfortunately, seven years later, it seems no lessons have been learned from these mistakes. Spectators caused problems already during Thursday morning’s shakedown.
Five more special stages will be driven in the Rally Poland on Friday. However, the start of the fourth special stage will be slightly delayed due to the cancelled section.
The competition concludes on Sunday.
Rally Poland Standings after SS2/19:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | 16:39.0 |
| 2. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +2.2 |
| 3. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +7.9 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +8,0 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +8.0 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +12.8 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +19.1 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +21.2 |
| 9. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +46.3 |
| 10. | Joshua McErlean | Skoda | +49.7 |
| 11. | Kajetan Kajetanowicz | Skoda | +51.3 |
| 12. | Robert Virves | Skoda | +52.3 |
Rally Poland Itinerary (CET):
Thursday 27.6. 10:01 Shakedown: Lubiewo (5.10 km) 19:05 SS1: Mikołajki Arena 1 (2.50 km) Friday 28.6. 08:45 SS2: Stańczyki 1 (29.40 km) 10:20 SS3: Wieliczki 1 (12.90 km) *CANCELLED 11:10 SS4: Olecko 1 (13.20 km) 14:05 SS5: Stańczyki 2 (29.40 km) 15:40 SS6: Wieliczki 2 (12.90 km) 16:30 SS7: Olecko 2 (13.20 km) 19:00 SS8: Mikołajki Arena 2 (2.50 km) Saturday 29.6. 08:30 SS9: Świętajno 1 (18.50 km) 09:45 SS10: Gołdap 1 (19.90 km) 10:35 SS11: Czarne 1 (22.40 km) 13:25 SS12: Mikołajki Arena 3 (2.50 km) 16:00 SS13: Świętajno 2 (18.50 km) 17:15 SS14: Gołdap 2 (19.90 km) 18:05 SS15: Czarne 2 (22.40 km) Sunday 30.6. 09:00 SS16: Gmina Mrągowo 1 (20.80 km) 10:05 SS17: Mikołajki 1 (10.73 km) 12:20 SS18: Gmina Mrągowo 2 (20.80 km) 14:15 SS19: Mikołajki 2 (10.73 km) *Power Stage
