WRC » Loeb handed time penalty

It seems the 'even-handedness' of the Mosely led FIA strikes again.....like in F-1 I say it's time to dump Mosely , Bernie, the FIA and the FOM like the cheap suits they are. They have brought nothing to motorsport other than a layer of self serving egotistical gnomes who have successfully driven the cost( $$$$ ) of participation, viewing , and attendance up beyond justifyable measure. And all the while they are lining thier own pockets, and egos.

The point is.. Loeb finished 14 sec ahead of Petter. That was so close, that the few seconds they gained from Elena's seatbelts had a big impact. If it wasn't for that they would be in really close battle with Petter, and would have needed to push even harder. That could have resulted in a small spin that put them behind Petter. This is in my opinion why the penalty was correct.

Watch the footage on Eurosport before you comment. Elena was sitting in the seat with his seatbelts undone and BEHIND his back (showing that he didn't just undo them, he had been moving around in the seat, probably reaching back to get the gun and jack). The car powerslides out onto tarmac (not exactly walking-pace we're talking about here) while Elena is sitting with the jack and wheelgun in his hands. He even opens the door and leans out before Seb stops the car.

I'd say they were damn lucky that they weren't excluded from the rally. This was a major breach of the regulations that clearly states that seatbelts should be buckled and tightened whenever the car is not stationary.

Richard read my comment again. I make no reference to the puncture only the penalty (which is what this thread is about). Without which he still would have been 3rd!

Punctures are just down to luck, everybody gets them!

Penalty given for undoing belts a tad too soon. Yet in the GP2 race at Monaco Grosjean taken out by someone "defending" their position - for defending read swerving. No penalty . Beautifully balanced viewpoint of the FIA. Perhaps Max has'nt been disciplined lately

steve. were you watching the same rally? loeb was pacing himself against miko. he then had a puncture which cost a minute. he then proceeded to post a time 18secs, yes, 18secs faster than miko on the next stage. he would have had the rally in the bag, but for the puncture and an unfair penalty. button didnt get penalised for parking in the wrong place today, and how many times have there been when f1 drivers have let off their belts on the slowing down lap, and not been penalised.

The penalty didnt really much difference, Loeb was well beaten on this rally anyway by both Fords penalty or no penalty.

Im just glad to see someone else win, its good for the championship and the sport in general. Hopefully Latvala, Hirvonen and Solberg can challenge for the win in the rest of the rounds this year. We need some more excitement back in the sport!

Come on people, lets not fight about teams, we all have our favourites. But it would make for a pretty boring exhibition for the same person to win every rally!

totally ridiculous penalty for such a trivial act. i wonder who brought it to the stewards attention? IF it was ford, they should be ashamed of themselves. they seem to want to beat seb by whatever means possible.

I just can not belive,what a bunch of idiots are some here.Seb plays tactics once maybe twice a season and you all call him a chiter a bandit......The losers at Ford played tactics from Cyprus on and nobody says anything.

The penality is totaly fair,Seb didnt drive at 180Km/h he was sloving down allmost to a hold.

I really do hope,that Seb wins all of the remening rallys and all of them in the next season.

Well, rules are the same for everybody...The punishment seems fair, not too harsh.

Go Loeb ! Now that I know that the idiots hate you for all the wrong reasons, I hope you'll ruin their days in the future !