Elfyn Evans’ WRC championship lead grows after Acropolis Rally Greece seatbelt penalties

Adrien Fourmaux and Josh McErlean have been issued with one-minute penalties after their respective co-drivers failed to fasten seat belts properly during Acropolis Rally Greece.

The regulation breaches occurred during stage 12 and stage 16 of the gravel rally. In Fourmaux’s case the Hyundai driver stopped his i20 N in stage 12 on Saturday evening to change a punctured front right tyre and rejoined the stage believing co-driver Alex Coria had his belt fastened. 

A stewards report detailed that when Fourmaux realised Coria had not successfully fastened his belt the Frenchman slowed the car down in order to “avoid any possible” incident.

In Sunday’s stage 16, M-Sport-Ford driver McErlean out-braked himself and ran off the road.

The stewards report read: “The crew explained that on SS16 they went off in a turn and stopped outside the road. The co-driver unfastened his seat belt to get out of the car and set up the OK sign and triangle as prescribed by the regulations. 

“Then they reversed and rejoined the road, trying to avoid any possible incident with the following car. The co-driver also added that he had told his driver “don’t go” because he was not fastened. Then, when ready, he told him to proceed. The co-driver stated that the respect of safety is his first priority, and he would have never left his driver to restart the special stage if unfastened.

«They argued that the car moved because of the gravity and the driver only accelerated when the co-driver was fully fastened. 

“The Stewards showed the video footage available on Rally.TV, in which it was clear that the safety belt of the co-driver was not properly fastened when the car was in motion on SS16 after they had rejoined the stage.”

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Hyundai

As a result, the stewards issued both crews a one-minute penalty which demoted McErlean from a hard-fought fourth to sixth, which remains a career best WRC result for the Irishman. Fourmaux’s sanction dropped the Hyundai driver from sixth to seventh. 

The penalties shuffled the WRC championship standings as points leader Elfyn Evans has inherited fifth position after finishing the rally in seventh, while Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari is now classified fourth.

The changes in the results mean Evans’ championship lead has increased from seven to 11 points over Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.

We want your opinion!

— The Motorsport.com Team