Loeb narrowly avoids the 5-minute engine penalty!

The FIA deliberated last night on the engine change for Sebastien Loeb following initial problems encountered the day before. Although the regulations do not stipulate any penalty in this case, the stewards preferred to apply a 5-minute penalty to Sebastien Loeb, but the Frenchman ultimately received nothing.

Indeed, after this announcement, his team, which had preferred to change the engine as a precaution, decided to reinstall the original engine in order to avoid the penalty and maintain the chance of winning the 3rd rally of the 2008 WRC.

The information was disclosed by the commissioners: « The commissioners received a representative of the Citroën Total WRT team who explained to them that they had unfortunately taken the FIA technical delegate’s recommendations as a rule point. »

Following decision no. 1 of the stewards, the team representative requested permission to reinstall the first engine and attempt to compete in the rally under these conditions.

After deliberation, the commissioners decided to allow the Citroën team to reinstall the first engine on the condition that the FIA technical delegate certifies the presence of intact seals. Under these circumstances, the five-minute penalty no longer applies.

A spokesperson for the Citroën team confirmed that repairs have been made to the fuel intake system. This work did not require touching the sealed parts. The team hopes that Sébastien Loeb will be able to start as usual this evening.

According to a Citroen press release