Eriksson calls for better Argentina fan controls

At the end of the event's 17th stage, the Swedish veteran said: "The stage shouldn't have been run. The finish was ridiculous, with spectators all the way round the outside of very fast corners. If you go off, you will have 20 or 30 people dead. The [sport's governing body] FIA needs to check these things."

Rally-winner Colin McRae, who was hampered by spectators on the second and final days of the event, backed-up Eriksson's comments, saying: "They weren't standing on the road, but on the outside of the corners, which is still very dangerous. You have to back off a bit or you risk going off and hitting people."

Stage 12 of the rally was cancelled after just seven cars had entered it because there were too many spectators.

Subaru technical director David Lapworth has also called for better spectator control within service areas. It follows an incident in which a spectator set off Subaru driver Toshio Arai's under-bonnet fire extinguisher by flicking the master switch located on the bonnet as he clocked into a control. Hundreds of fans had broken through flimsy barriers keeping them away from the cars.

"[The extinguisher] filled the engine bay with foam and flicked the master switch, which for some reason got jammed," said Lapworth. "We've been saying for years that at a service area like this, where we have all the space in the world, we should be able to provide a secure area where the fans can see the cars and the drivers, but from a controlled distance. Why we can't, I don't know. It should be common sense."