Ogier strongly criticised the organisers at the finish of the first special stage of the Greek WRC round. He took issue with the three-minute start intervals, as the dust from the previous car was still lingering on the road.
“It’s frustrating to see that our sport never learns. We ask, we know there’s going to be dust. There’s floating dust. They say no. What’s going on inside your heads? Nothing. It’s crazy,” Ogier fumed in Greece.
The stewards of the Acropolis Rally did not take kindly to the Frenchman’s outburst, slapping him with a suspended fine of €30,000. The fine will be enforced if Ogier commits a similar offence within the next two years.
Now Ogier has spoken out about the incident in an interview with the French magazine AutoHebdo. He doesn’t feel that he went too far in his criticism.
“There were two issues in Greece,” Ogier began.
“The first, regarding the dust and the FIA, was strongly tied to safety. It’s sad to see that they try to silence us on matters like this,” Ogier continued.
Ogier said he somewhat understands the decision of the stewards, but he still isn’t fully on board with the penalty he received.
“When I met the stewards at the rally, I apologised for the way I expressed myself, as the words I used might not have been the best, even though there were no insults or anything too dramatic at the time,” Ogier explained.
Ogier also emphasised that he intends to continue speaking out about safety-related issues.
“I also made it clear to them that I would continue to speak up about these events related to safety, as I find it unacceptable to let them slide,” Ogier asserted.
