Portuguese Rally News

[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.