The inaugural Rally Paraguay begins on Friday with eight special stages, but already the panel of stewards has issued a raft of penalties. Seven crews were fined during the day on Thursday local time – all for the same and rather unusual reason.
Championship contender Sébastien Ogier was handed a €2,000 fine after he drove 200 metres in the reverse direction during reconnaissance on Tuesday.
According to the stewards’ decision, Ogier explained during the hearing that on the first reconnaissance pass he and co-driver Vincent Landais encountered loose stones on a downhill section before a right-hand corner, which also contained a hole in the road. To re-check this potentially dangerous location and ensure accurate pace notes, he decided to reverse.
The stewards noted that they understood the Toyota driver’s reasoning but still deemed the manoeuvre a breach of the reconnaissance regulations.
“This can also be considered as a third passage of this section of the stage, which is itself a breach of the regulations. Furthermore, reversing on a stage during reconnaissance can create additional safety concerns for the following crews using the stage at the same time,” the decision underlined.
Ogier’s team-mate Takamoto Katsuta received the same €2,000 fine for a similar infringement. The Japanese driver drove 100 metres in reverse on another stage.
Katsuta told the stewards that he had taken the decision because there was heavy traffic on the road raising dust, which made it impossible for him to make accurate notes. He therefore reversed in order to check the section again.
Five Paraguayan drivers were also penalised for the same offence. Miguel Maria Garcia, Diego Dominguez Sr and Tiago Weiler were each fined €1,000, while Sebastian Gonzalez and Santiago Ruiz were each fined €500.
Rally Paraguay officially gets underway on Friday with eight special stages.
