WRC drivers and co-drivers conducted their reconnaissance of the Rally Estonia special stages on Tuesday and Wednesday. After the recce, the organisers handed out fines to a total of six drivers.
Among the top-level competitors, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Oliver Solberg – who is contesting his first event in a Toyota Rally1 car – were both penalised.
Reigning world champion Neuville was caught driving at 48 km/h in a zone with a 30 km/h speed limit. The Belgian driver received a €450 fine for the infraction.
Solberg, however, exceeded the limit by an even greater margin, clocking 64 km/h in the same 30 km/h zone. The Swedish driver was hit with an €850 fine.
In addition to the top-level drivers, other penalties were issued to Germany’s Fabio Schwarz (€600), Paraguay’s Miguel Zaldivar (€1,050), Russia’s Igor Bulantsev (€675), and Estonia’s Travis Pärs (€375).
In the WRC, speeding fines during recce are calculated using a simple formula: each kilometre per hour over the limit costs €25. A second offence during the same rally doubles the fine. A third offence results in a five-minute time penalty, and a fourth leads to disqualification.
Rally Estonia gets underway on Thursday. The shakedown stage takes place in the morning, and the rally kicks off with the opening super special stage in Tartu in the evening.
