Wilson defends team orders
Eurosport - Mon, 13 Oct 15:58:00 2008
BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson has defended the use of team instructions at Rally Corsica which moved Mikko Hirvonen up to second.
Wilson said they have to do everything possible to maximise their prospects of beating Citroen and Sebastien Loeb.
"Rallying is a complex sport and the situation we found ourselves in was far from ideal," Wilson said.
"However, we have to do everything we can to try to win the manufacturers' title for a third consecutive season and to give Mikko the best opportunity of claiming the drivers' crown."
Hirvonen had been on course to take the runners-up spot throughout most of the 13th round. However, when he hit a pothole in the first test on Sunday and had to change a tyre, the Finn slipped to fifth behind fellow Ford men Duval and Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg.
With Solberg then suffering a puncture in the next stage, the M-Sport-run outfit was able to activate a plan to ensure they did not lose out: Duval checked into the start of the final special stage early to incur a two-minute penalty, while Latvala intentionally clocked in late to pick up a 90-second penalty.
This allowed Hirvonen to move back into second and the extra points gained leave him 14 points off Loeb with two rounds remaining, while the BP Ford Abu Dhabi team also gained an additional point as Jari-Matti was running under the Stobart banner in France.
Citroen boss Olivier Quesnel was reluctant to comment on the matter, although he did joke that Wilson must have been a star maths pupil when he was younger.
"I think Malcolm Wilson was quite good at school, quite good at mathematics," he replied when asked about Ford's tactics. "That's rallying. It's not our problem.
"We do our race, and Ford does what it has to do. I have nothing to say about this."
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Comment 1 - 6 of 6
It happended with the Great Colin Mcrae and look how upset he was.The man was rally through and through and wanted to entertain the crowds.Let the drivers battle it out,not the boardroom staff.
Tommo
sometimes the rules kill the sports and the fans...think again FIA
yet again the Blue oval cheats with team orders.
Willy Wilson - THATS JUST NOT CRICKET IS IT? My Husband raced for 15 years as a clubman from his own meagre pocket. He even managed to compete and complete the Rally Acropolis (no under achievment there!) and he was leading his class in that International, but Toyota did not come and ask him to step back - on the contrary they came and congratulated him and ensured he had free rubber from Dunlop for the next 12 months! You cannot ask a driver who has risked life and limb and gained his position fair and square - luck or ill luck to anyone - and ask them to stand down just because you have the keys to the cars for next season. It is ridiculing human dignity and it is rubbing sand in the eye of the public and it is soul destroying for the driver/co driver who have been "bogeyed" by your demands. You win it fair or lose it square. Never did trust LITTLE men and certainly not LITTLE Scottish men!
It's a shame that Ford has to use these tactics. It needs to be addressed by the FIA in time for next season.
The FIA should close that team orders loophole, it's making a mockery of the sport and honest drivers.
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