Ott Tänak’s Rally1 car was observed traveling at a speed of 172 kilometres per hour in an area where the speed limit was 100 kilometres per hour. However, it was not the Estonian star himself who was speeding, but rather a Hyundai mechanic.
A hearing on the matter was held on Thursday afternoon, during which Hyundai’s chief engineer Jan de Jong and team representative Tolga Ozakinci provided explanations. According to them, the team’s mechanic was testing the car’s windscreen wipers.
“Mr. De Jong explained that during the previous event, TET RALLY LATVIA, they had faced some issues with the wipers of the rally cars. In order to test if this issue had been properly fixed in the preparation for this event, a mechanic went out with the car in order to try the function of the wipers. By doing so he was obviously more focussed on the function of the wipers than on the allowed speed,” says the jury’s decision.
“Mr. Ozakinci confirmed that the wipers problem was also discussed in their last team meeting as the drivers had some safety concerns on driving the high speed stages of SECTO RALLY FINLAND with malfunctioning wipers. Both Mr. De Jong and Mr. Ozakinci apologised for the lack of judgement and this human error.”
The mechanic’s blunder cost Hyundai’s WRC team 5,000 euros. The fine must be paid within 48 hours.
The Rally Finland starts on Thursday evening with the legendary Harju city special stage.
