Portuguese Rally News

[Rally Power]

The infamous stone, which turned a fantastic rally into a shameful mess…



Tuga already explained the situation but it’s not fair to blame the organizers. They cancelled that stage and delayed the start of the last one, making possible for Bruno to evaluate the damages on the car and start the final SS in time. The late decision to penalize Bruno with 35s for inappropriate behavior was made by the steward’s college, not the organizers.

Bruno’s attitude it’s understandable: he was giving everything to keep the rally leadership and that abnormal incident seemed to have ruined his efforts. But his remarks weren’t totally accurate: it was pretty obvious that he stopped the other guys because he felt he was victim of sabotage, not for safety reasons, as he later claimed. And even if we accept that the stone was purposely placed there, it’s not clear that spectators were near and it’s a bit hard to believe that a Marshall witnessed someone dropping it into the road and did no effort to remove it.

Above all, this was a sad end for the rally and it wasn’t only Bruno, Alexandre (that lost concentration and was beaten by Fontes on last SS) and their codrivers that were undermined; the whole sport gets affected by these situations. Besides classification issues, if it comes clear this really was a sabotage I hope that in a near future Bruno will be invited to return to Madeira in order to make, alongside Alexandre, other drivers and the organizers, a pedagogic campaign so that everyone understands that these actions puts the drivers lifes at risk and the rally future in jeopardy.

[Rally Power]

The overall classification may have lost the interest after the SS18 incidents, but the drivers efforts during the rally shouldn’t be deleted from our memories. Here’s a nice video from Mais Ralis guys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8aNoo2KfGM

[dupanton]

IMO I don't understand why Magelhaes stopped the stage.
Rocks on the road are part of rallying, you can not know at all if it is planted or not. If you are first on the road, you can encounter rocks, it's a "racing incident"

He should have (tried to) continue and let the rally continue. I understand he got a penalty.

[atsiotras79]

Was the rock there when safety cars passed?
I mean Bruno was 1st on the road so should not have been more than 5-10 mins after 0 car

[TheFlyingTuga]

Was the rock there when safety cars passed?
I mean Bruno was 1st on the road so should not have been more than 5-10 mins after 0 car

No, the rock wasn't there when the zero passed. Just when Bruno reached there that the stone was on the road

[Rally Power]

He should have (tried to) continue and let the rally continue. I understand he got a penalty.

You’re right, when the crew and their car are ok the normal procedure is to continue, and complain after. But we all know that stewards and organizers rarely attend those complains. The overall spirit is “the show must go on”.

From the moment he saw the stone Bruno was convinced it was sabotage, and honestly I think his instinct was right. There are too many factors to not believe that the stone ended there by coincidence.

I just regret Bruno wasn’t able to keep his original reaction to stop the rally. He should remain there no matter what and stand for his point. If necessary he should call the authorities and even the media, so that everyone realized that this kind of actions cannot be admitted on our sport.

It may seem a bit drastic, but sometimes drastic measures are the only way to change wrong behaviors. We all remember top drivers boycott at Portugal ‘86 Rally. Their attitude seemed excessive but it was vital to make spectators realized they should improve their behavior.

This case shouldn’t be seen just as an unfortunate problem that occurred with Bruno and Hugo in Madeira’s Rally. This can happen, and has happened, in any rally, with any driver and co driver. It’s their safety that’s at risk. It’s the sport’s fair competition principles that are undermined.

[Ucci]

You’re right, when the crew and their car are ok the normal procedure is to continue, and complain after. But we all know that stewards and organizers rarely attend those complains. The overall spirit is “the show must go on”.

From the moment he saw the stone Bruno was convinced it was sabotage, and honestly I think his instinct was right. There are too many factors to not believe that the stone ended there by coincidence.

I just regret Bruno wasn’t able to keep his original reaction to stop the rally. He should remain there no matter what and stand for his point. If necessary he should call the authorities and even the media, so that everyone realized that this kind of actions cannot be admitted on our sport.

It may seem a bit drastic, but sometimes drastic measures are the only way to change wrong behaviors. We all remember top drivers boycott at Portugal ‘86 Rally. Their attitude seemed excessive but it was vital to make spectators realized they should improve their behavior.

This case shouldn’t be seen just as an unfortunate problem that occurred with Bruno and Hugo in Madeira’s Rally. This can happen, and has happened, in any rally, with any driver and co driver. It’s their safety that’s at risk. It’s the sport’s fair competition principles that are undermined.

100 % agree!

[Rally Power]

In some cases it’s tragic, not only in Madeira but also on the mainland. Local populations and firefighters are exhausted. We’re hoping for a less extreme weather over the next days.

[Rally Power]

Nice to have Salvi and Babo back on the championship, after their huge accident in the Fabia. At Mortágua’s Rally they’ll use the Fiesta. Good luck!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54l11e2v16o
Video: WRCatedral_Fafe

[Rally Power]

Rallye de Mortágua will be the next round of the Portuguese championship. Probably, the last chance for Meireles to get closer to Fontes. Campos is absent, but Barros, Peres, Salvi, Alves and Gago are back. Madeira’s ace, Nunes, will be making another try on a gravel rally.

Entry list: http://www.cacsport.com/ficheiros/AR...agua-2016a.pdf
Live timing: http://cnr.cronobandeira.com/
Shakedown video, by Mondego Sport: https://youtu.be/CE3xW1hkjMY