Originally Posted by
ouvreur
But with all respect, it may be discussed or clarified in team manager meetings, but the rule itself is not fit for purpose. It's causing problem after problem on tarmac events - and will only continue to do so. "At least one wheel on the road" isn't a rallying rule, it's a circuit racing rule. How long until a competitor protests another for having just 1cm of the tread of one wheel touching the road - should the full contact patch be touching?
If cars putting all four wheels off the road is such a 'safety' issue, then it should be made impossible for them to do so. In Finland, the organisers use anti-cut devices to keep the average speeds down. What's stopping organisers doing that anywhere else in the world?
We should never, ever be in a situation where a driver taking a marginally more aggressive line on a rally, that is possible to take without smashing up some barriers or obstacles / going through tape etc., gets a time penalty. That's not rallying.