WRC: Spectator issues force stage cancellation

Rally Poland's first Saturday afternoon stage was canceled after officials of the World Rally Championship round claimed a large number of spectators refused to listen to safety instructions.

A statement released shortly after stage 14 was officially canceled said organizers were not willing to risk an incident as the cars passed through.

"In the first section of the stage there were too many spectators who did not react to any instructions from the safety crew," the statement read. "In order to guarantee the safety of spectators and rally cars, the stage was canceled. Rally cars were diverted to the start of the next stage via an alternative route.

"The organizers adhered to these instructions in order to not have an incident of any kind."

It means Sebastien Ogier retains his lead over VW teammate Andreas Mikklesen by 7.2s, with Ott Tanak third, just 0.1s ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala.

Ogier had increased his overall lead with two victories from the four stages run on Saturday morning, despite having to run first on the road without any Rally 2 runners to clean the stage ahead of him.