Fourmaux’s rally was completely ruined on Saturday’s stages, and to make matters worse, the event stewards handed the Frenchman a fine at the end of the day.
Fourmaux and his co-driver Alexandre Coria forgot to press the so-called OK button after stopping to change a tyre on the second stage of the day. When a crew stops on a stage, they must confirm they are okay by pressing the OK button within one minute.
The stewards imposed a €2,000 fine on Fourmaux and Coria for the mistake.
It had already been an eventful Saturday for Fourmaux. The Hyundai driver had started the day in second place, but a puncture on the second stage of the morning dropped him out of the fight for the lead.
On the very next stage, Fourmaux went off the road twice, but he was still able to continue. However, his rally came to an end in the afternoon when he rolled his car.
Fourmaux offered an unusual explanation for the crash.
“I confused two trees. There was one tightening corner, but the braking point was just after the first tree, and I missed it. Then there were two trees, so I braked at the second one,” Fourmaux explained.
“I missed the braking by 30 or 40 metres. Maybe not that much, but it was enough to go wide and end up on the roof.”
Fourmaux will be able to rejoin the rally on Sunday, when four stages are scheduled to be run.
