Gravel tactics come under fire
World Championship teams and drivers want the FIA to act to stop the dubious tactics that blighted Rally Australia, according to this week's Autosport magazine
The event was soured as drivers deliberately slowed to move down the running order, so they would run on 'cleaner' gravel the following day. Ford's Carlos Sainz was excluded from the event when he was caught actually stopping on a stage, while Tommi Makinen jumped a start and Richard Burns changed a tyre in a time control.
Burns said: "We have to find a solution. We hate all this sort of issue. If I lost the World Championship because of a situation like this, then it's not worth winning anyway."
Sainz himself said it was "crazy" that drivers had to slow to have a better chance the next day. "We knew a problem like this would arise," he added.
Peugeot has suggested that at least a dozen privateer cars should sweep the roads before the WRC field is let loose, to alleviate the problem.
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