Sebastien Loeb and Orlando Terranova lose spare tyres in the desert – FIA doesn’t blame the drivers, but fines Prodrive
There was some discussion around Sebastien Loeb in the bivouac after the eighth stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. Eventually, the Frenchman escaped a time penalty. A fine of 10,000 euros was imposed. 5,000 of which had to be paid straight away, the rest will be due should there be another offence.
What had happened? On Monday, Lob had a puncture after 28 kilometres. He changed the wheel and remounted the punctured tyre under the fairing of his BRX Hunter. Then when he arrived at neutral after 191 kilometres, the other spare tyre was missing.
“At neutral we realised that we had lost our spare tyre,” Loeb reported. “It was the only one we had left. That’s why we became cautious until the end.” For T1+ cars are only allowed to carry two spare tyres.
According to Article 51.4.1 of the regulations, every tyre fitted to the car must reach the nearest service zone. Under no circumstances should tyres be left outside these zones. Loeb would therefore have had to pick up the lost tyre.
On 4 January, the race stewards penalised Antoine Delaporte (283) with five penalty minutes for not returning a tyre to the bivouac during the third stage. They did not impose the same penalty on Loeb.
But not only the Frenchman finished the eighth stage with one less spare tyre, but also his team-mate Orlando Terranova. The FIA fined the Prodrive team 10,000 euros, of which 5,000 euros had to be paid immediately.
Prodrive boss David Richards appeared before the race commissioners. He defended his team and was of the opinion that the drivers had no advantage because they also had to drive more carefully for the rest of the stage in order not to risk a puncture.
The FIA document states the reasons for the verdict: “A video of the tyre change on car No. 211 [Loeb] clearly shows that the drivers mounted the broken wheel on the right side of the car.” Loeb, however, lost the left spare tyre, which had been fitted in the bivouac.
“In both cases, the fault does not appear to lie with the crews, but with fastening straps that are too weak and fastening elements on the body section that are too weak,” the FIA document said.
“FIA recognises that its activities and events have an impact on the environment and works with its stakeholders to minimise this impact and encourage positive behaviours.”
“Leaving wheels and parts in the desert is contrary to FIA’s objectives. It is the competitor’s responsibility to ensure that the competition vehicle complies with technical and safety requirements.”
“For example, he must ensure that all parts of the vehicle are correctly fitted and he must increase the safety of the spare wheel mounts. Wheels falling out pose a potential danger to spectators. The race stewards also note that the drivers had no control over the loss of the spare wheels and therefore no further action will be taken against the crews. “
Overall classification after 8 of 12 stages (Top 10):
01st Al-Attiyah/Baumel (Toyota) – 27:45:52 hours
02 Loeb/Lurquin (BRX) +37:58 minutes
03rd Al-Rajhi/Orr (Toyota) +53:13
04 Przygonski/Gottschalk (Mini Buggy) +1:28:06 hours
05 Terranova/Oliveras (BRX) +1:31:39
06th Vasilyev/Uperenko (BMW) +1:40:57
07. de Villiers/Murphy (Toyota) +1:46:05
09 Prokop/Chytka (Ford) +1:54:05
09 Halpern/Graue (Mini Buggy) +2:08:42
10th Serradori/Minaudier (Century) +2:31:31