Sébastien Ogier has been given a reprimand and a suspended €1000 fine following an incident which occurred at the fourth refueling zone earlier on Saturday in Sardinia.
Ogier – who leads the rally by 18.2 seconds from Esapekka Lappi – escaped any penalty on his overall time after he was deemed to have breached Articles 61.2.8 of the 2023 FIA WRC Sporting Regulations and 12.2.1.h of the 2023 FIA International Sporting Code.
A document released by the stewards of this weekend’s Rally Italy Sardinia explained the incident and following decision.
“The Driver of Car No.17 explained that immediately after refueling in the Refueling Zone 4, they realized that a little bit more fuel was needed and therefore had decided to reverse back to the Refueling Zone 4 in order to add some more fuel. Furthermore, Mr. Ogier stated that during the refueling operation both drivers were outside the car,” it read.
“The Stewards then heard the marshal on duty at the Refueling Zone 4 and the refueling personnel. The marshal explained that the Crew of Car No. 17 had completed the refueling operation and just after leaving the refueling zone they had reversed back to the refueling area.
“The refueling personnel added that during the refueling operation the driver Ogier and the co-driver Landais of Car No. 17 were outside the car, but then the driver Ogier entered the car 1-2 seconds too early before the refueling operation had completely finished. The refueling personnel had to stop refueling at that point, as they are instructed to do so for safety reasons.
“The Driver of the Car No. 17 apologized for rushing into the car too early in front of the refueling personnel. Art. 61.2 of the 2023 FIA WRC Sporting Regulations clearly describes the refueling procedure and how the crew should behave inside the refueling zone to ensure a safe refueling operation. Furthermore, it is the Crew´s responsibility to follow such regulations precisely and not to enter the car before the refueling operation has completely ended.
“The Stewards conclude that imposing a fine on the driver Ogier of Car No. 17 is appropriate in this case, the fine itself being suspended until the end of the 2023 WRC season.”
