MOTORSPORT NEWS Rally

Tanak won’t appeal ‘harsh’ suspended WRC ban

by Ryan Wood

As a result, he was retired from the rally and later informed that the stewards had imposed a one-event ban, suspended for 12 months.

“My first feeling was that it’s a pretty harsh one,” he told DirtFish. “I would say to take me out or retire me from the rally was already quite harsh. To get the suspension after the rally, I don’t know, for sure, it’s a hard one.

“To drive [with] a flat tire at 50km/h, OK, open road, but still pretty carefully – and doing nothing crazy – you get a suspension for that?”

He questioned why others weren’t penalised as heavily for what he believes were more dangerous acts.

“I don’t know, other people driving with helmets open on a stage, which can be fatal immediately [in the event of a crash].

“A human life is worth €400, compared what we have done?”

Rally winner Sebastien Ogier and Hyundai co-drivers Carlos del Barrio and Martijn Wydaeghe were hit with €400 fines for driving with open helmets.

Source: motorsportweek.com