Dani Sordo said goodbye to the 2022 WRC World Championship with a dramatic incident on the Japan rally, the last in the championship. His Hyundai caught fire on the first stage of the day when it accidentally caught fire from the rear. The Cantabrian and his co-pilot Cándido Carrera experienced moments of anguish, but they came out unharmed.
"We have done everything possible to stop the fire, but it has been impossible. Seeing your car burn and not being able to do anything to avoid it is a pain that cannot be described. Very sad," Dani Sordo wrote on his social networks.
"In the middle of the straight we started to smell a lot of gasoline, and suddenly the fire seeped between the seats and there was a lot of smoke. I stopped the car and in a few minutes it started to burn. We tried to put it out with the extinguisher, but it was impossible" , explained the Cantabrian driver on the WRC channels.
It is the first time that the Cantabrian rider has suffered a situation like this in his 17 seasons in the World Championship. In this championship, Sordo has only competed in five races; in the previous four he had scored. He is 8th overall.
"I am very sorry that the team has lost this unity. I have never seen anything like this before. We must study what has happened and learn from it," commented the Cantabrian.
After the incident, the section was automatically cancelled. The event meant Sordo's retirement and the early end of his ninth consecutive season in the World Championship with the Hyundai team.
After the first stage, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) is the leader of the Japan rally, pressured by Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and the already champion Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota).
Evans has a 3 second lead over the Belgian and 5.1s over the Finn. Ott Tñanak is fourth in 13.9s and Takamoto Katsuta, fifth in 20.6s.
