Investigation underway into "very serious" WRC Rally…

An investigation into how an unauthorised vehicle entered a live World Rally Championship stage at Rally Japan is underway, an incident which the FIA has described as "a very serious issue."

A minivan entered stage 12 (Ena) on Saturday morning, forcing officials to cancel the test after six of the eight Rally1 crews posted times.

Television cameras captured a vehicle that was stationary facing in the opposite direction of travel approaching the start line where Elfyn Evans' Toyota GR Yaris was waiting behind a temporary barrier.

According to a report from the event organisers, a civilian car stopped at a checkpoint where five on-site staff checked the driver's pass. The driver failed to show the required pass and subsequently broke through the checkpoint and entered the stage.

The vehicle was asked to move off the course but did not comply and remained in the same place for over 10 minutes. Police then attended the scene and escorted the vehicle from the stage.

This is the second time in three years that a civilian car has entered a live stage following an incident in 2022 where WRC2 drivers Emil Lindholm and Sami Pajari came across the car driving in the opposite direction.

"We need to understand, first of all, exactly what the situation was in the timeline, but I think it's pretty clear what was the situation," FIA road sport director Andrew Wheatley told Motorsport.com.

"We've had this situation before here, which is challenging. First of all, we need to know exactly what happened, how it happened and what we do to avoid it in the future.

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1 (Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool)

"Clearly, what's been done in the past has not been good enough and we need to find solutions to go forward. There is no excuse for this.

"It's not like in the past where there was no physical barrier, this is somebody who has been detained [by [police] while they ascertain what they will do with him."

"It is different to the last time [in 2022]. In the short term for tomorrow, the action that has been undertaken is that we have additional people here outside of the organising group, and they have been and done an independent review of the stages today and particularly that last one.

"They have been deployed to ensure there are physical barriers to ensure this shouldn't happen again."

This incident is set to be reviewed by the FIA's closed road safety commission which could lead to consequences for next year's event, according to Wheatley. Last year the event was operating under a yellow card warning following the 2022 safety breach, a process that could return for next year.

"I wouldn't like to comment [about what it means for next year's event] but it is a very serious issue," added Wheatley.

"The challenge is this is a good event and they are good organisers and we need to try and understand how to make the event more consistent. The good news is there were no injuries or issues.

"It will go through the closed road safety commission. If there is something outside of the norm on the safety report it will go through a yellow card process and it will be reviewed by a delegation from the closed road safety commission and they will give a recommendation.

"First off the severity of the issue is determined and then a process to fix the issue is determined and then that is put into place. It is not the end of the road, it is a significant challenge for the organising team and they will be under much closer scrutiny than they were last year."