Time for a fine for bringing the sport into dispute?

[janneppi]

Seeing as in F1 you can slab a team with a 100 million fine for "bringing the sport into dispute", maybe it should be done here too?
I'll say 10Million Euros for both Ford and Citroen, maybe even FIA themselves should pay up for creating stupid rules. Where's Max Mosley's shovel when you need it.
Event like this is a sad joke.

[AndyRAC]

Possibly, but no rules were broken. A €10M fine would probably make them walk away.
However, surely common sense will prevail and something will be done. The teams/FiA need to look at the 'bigger picture'. The sport is being made to look extremely foolish. I hope the 'Qualifying' idea is brought in.

[Langdale Forest]

A penalty should be a punishment for breaking the rules, and not a way of messing about with road postioning, so if a driver is deemed to get a early/late penalty delibratley, they should be disqualified from the rally.

[BDunnell]

To be honest, I don't see quite what all the fuss is about. Yes, it's unedifying, but drivers have been dropping back — if not deliberately incurring penalties — to get better road position since I've been watching the sport in the early 1980s, and surely for longer than that.

[bowler]

To be honest, I don't see quite what all the fuss is about. Yes, it's unedifying, but drivers have been dropping back — if not deliberately incurring penalties — to get better road position since I've been watching the sport in the early 1980s, and surely for longer than that.

agree 100%.

move on.

tactics start when there are two or more competitors

[TMorel]

Do I have a problem with the concept of tactics? Nope
Do I think either team are the big bad evil for pulling them? Nope
Do I think that we have a problem with the rules that needs to be addressed? Yes
Will any changes remove totally the need for tactics? No

I hope (and am confident that it'll happen) that Todt will sit down with the drivers and teams and listen to their suggestions even if it means that this season they try a couple of different ideas every few events.

Rallying doesnt get much media coverage and it doesnt help the sport if what little there is, is taken up with discussing the rights and wrongs of tactics instead of talking about Ogier and Solbergs pace.

[BDunnell]

Seriously, on this subject, am I missing something that I ought to be very concerned about as a rallying enthusiast?

[janneppi]

Possibly, but no rules were broken.

That's the beauty of the fine, it can, and has been given when no rules are broken, all that matters if some makes the sport look ridiculous.

[BDunnell]

That's the beauty of the fine, it can, and has been given when no rules are broken, all that matters if some makes the sport look ridiculous.

But, as I said, this is a tactic that's been in use for ages. And it's not as if anybody notices the alleged bringing-into-disrepute of rallying by such tactics — this is rallying we're talking about, after all.

[janneppi]

But, as I said, this is a tactic that's been in use for ages. And it's not as if anybody notices the alleged bringing-into-disrepute of rallying by such tactics — this is rallying we're talking about, after all.

And FIA it should have put a stop to it ages ago, IMO it seriously diminishes the sporting aspect of the series, this is rallying we a talking about, after all.

Especially now, when there are in effect two drivers fighting for the WDC. If teams are allowed to behave this way, why even bother with first two days. Why not have three guys per team cleaning the roads leaving Loeb and Hirvonen to poodle along 50% speeds for two days, then come last day, you have six cars in front of them sweeping the road driving just fast enough not to interfiere.
I know that's taking it too far, but there isn't anything in the rules preventing that either.