The Orvecame Norte Rally, held this weekend on the neighboring island, has gone viral on social media due to the accident involving Yeray Lemes (among other incidents), in which his Citroen C3 Rally 2 crashed into the facade of a house, immediately causing the building to collapse.
The clip has gone viral on social media among national and international motorsport accounts and has even been used as filler in some news reports as a curiosity in the sports section.
The adverse conditions left by Storm Olivier in the archipelago this weekend were the main cause of the incident in Lemes, who slid in one of the fast-moving sections of the El Amparo – La Montañeta section, crashing into a house and being thrown into an old house that ended up collapsing.
Neither the rain tires, nor the setup changes, nor the skill of one of the best rally drivers in the Canary Islands could prevent an outcome born of bad luck, but one that would not have happened if the organizers had neutralized the stage earlier due to poor weather conditions.
It was not the only incident of the rally, the Russian Alexander Lukyanuk, from the Hyundai Canarias team and who will be Car 0 in the Rally Islas Canarias, also had an accident when he slid with his Hyundai I20N Rally 2, crashing into a wall and sliding until he accessed an escape route that led to the entrance of another house, although on this occasion luck was on the driver's side and, despite losing control of the car, he entered at low speed and lightly collided with a car parked at the entrance to the property, which was protected only with a tape.
Accidents that also fueled social media the speech of many "activists" who denounced once again that “The Canary Islands are an amusement park” and even surpassed any moral limits regretting that Yeray Lemes was not injured of the accident.
As if that weren't enough, members of the Hyundai Canarias team reported on social media that some fans had taken the rear wing from Lukyanuk's car, which had come loose after the accident.
These incidents, along with others that left more than 30 cars out of the event, are typical of any rainy rally, where the closeness of the fans and the toughness of the cars make the events unique. However, in Gran Canaria, more than one of the world's sporting and motorsports leaders was tearing their hair out at the sight.
The reason? Just two days before these incidents, the 2th Canary Islands Rally had been launched in Gran Canaria. A launch event attended by high-ranking local, island, regional, and even national officials, led by the president of the CSD, José Manuel Uribes, gathered at the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium to celebrate the return of the WRC to Spain.
A meeting featuring speeches from the officials, each with three clear objectives: to honor Simon Larkin (WRC promoter), to highlight the event's organization, and to call on fans to be responsible; all with the goal of ensuring that the event remains part of the world championship beyond the two years initially agreed upon.
From Germán Morales (organizer of the Canary Islands Rally) to Antonio Morales, the message was the same among all the officials who spoke: the public must behave and stop hooliganism so as not to scare off the WRC and give the island a disgraceful image internationally in front of more than 85 million spectators.
A necessary message, considering the investment made to attract promoters and the pressure being exerted from Catalonia to host the event again after losing its world championship status in 2023.
In Las Palmas, they know firsthand that if they want to maintain Gran Canaria's status as a host of major world events, they must move away from the image presented this weekend in Tenerife (although it is the essence that has always been breathed in the archipelago's rallies), opting for meticulous organization and unfailing safety in each and every stage of the event.
In addition to completely eliminating the idea that was circulating from the neighboring island since the arrival of the world test was known and that Germán Morales himself confirmed allow some WRC stages to be run in 2026 in Tenerife; not only because of the image this weekend, but because it would mean doubling the logistical efforts of an event that already represents an unprecedented deployment in the archipelago.
For now, the WRC seems willing to extend the relationship with the island for up to three more years if things go well in all aspects during these first two years: safety, organization, fundraising, audiences... The first test of fire will be in 10 days with the Shakedown in Santa Brígida and the starting gun for the test with the ceremonial start in the Plaza de Santa Ana, where the Rally1 CVs will roar for the first time on the island.
