Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe have finished in fifth place in Rally Croatia, with a time of 8m22.5s behind rally winner Kalle Rovanpera. The duo had a chance at a podium finish but were hit with a turbo problem on Sunday. This issue cost them their shot at a better place in the standings, as they had started the day third overall. To add insult to injury, FIA stewards issued a fine to be jointly paid by Neuville and Wydaeghe after they failed to submit their time card at the end of stage 17.
Reason for the Fine
According to FIA WRC Sporting regulations, any absence of a stamp or signature from any control, the absence of a time entry at a time control, or the failure to hand in the time card at each control, means that the crew concerned will be considered to have retired from the rally at that control point. Wydaeghe, concerned about the turbo issue, was taking a photo of the i20 N’s dashboard to send to the team engineers and forgot to hand in the time card before Neuville pulled away from the control. He initially claimed that he handed in the time card before apologising for his lapse in the stewards’ hearing. He admitted that he had forgotten this procedure due to being under pressure.
Given the circumstances, the crew were facing stewards used their discretion by issuing a fine rather than a disqualification from the event. Neuville believes the problem could have stemmed from human error.
Other Fines Issued
In addition to Neuville and Wydaeghe’s fine, team-mate Dani Sordo, who finished second, has also been issued a 1,000 euro fine. The fine was for wearing a personal cap instead of the cap used by the promoter during the final podium. Stewards have attached a 15,000 euro suspended fine to this sanction, pending no further breach of this regulation this season.
Reflecting on Sunday’s turbo issue, Neuville believes the problem could have stemmed from a human error. “It is something related to the turbo, it looks like probably there was a small human error yesterday, and we had trouble straight after leaving parc ferme,” he added. “It wasn’t fixable, we just tried to optimise the power of the engine somehow to take the maximum from it, but there was not a lot. It is not related [to the smoke which poured from his i20 at Saturday night’s media zone] because all those parts have been changed, and somehow it is related because when we put the new parts in a mistake has been made.”
In conclusion, despite their turbo issue, Neuville and Wydaeghe managed to complete Rally Croatia in fifth place. However, they were hit with a fine for failing to submit their time card after stage 17. Meanwhile, team-mate Dani Sordo has also been fined for wearing a personal cap instead of the promoter’s cap during the final podium.
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