I have a doubt here, though its common to take help when you are stuck in the SS, while reading through the FMSCI regulations, I see that section 19.14 states :

19.14 During a special stage, assistance is forbidden.

Can someone shed more light on this ? Does it mean if we take help from onlookers to get the car back on the road, it breaches this clause and appropriate action should/will be taken ?

- Raghu

@ Pradeep and Raghu - Cant wait...step on it!

@ whitemachines - the aim of this forum in not to put a lid on it, in all the neutral's eyes RRR was definitely the better 'team' but were unlucky this year.

As soon as MRF returned, hundreds of protests at each rally...thats not motorsport. The aim should be to win on a level playing field not to win dirty.

@speedaddict - Im sure you'll be stronger and wiser next year and that all this political crap goes in your favor.

Great to see that those who're today carrying the rallying on their shoulders (read drive) and others here have a sportsman attitude.

Sad, that old habits (read politics and underhand measures) die hard and are still tainting the sport after over 2 decades.
Pray those who drive be the winners - as they truly are!! else its still a victory to them who're as bent as the "lower arm" and cry fowl (sic) whenever results don't go their way. The ones dishing out the muck forget that their hands are full of it first.

to the sportsmen, and to the and

Very well said!!!

hmmmm....

Its more like the "Foul" crying 'Fowl", than the "Fowl" crying 'Foul" like I had said somewhere earlier.....
Its very unfortunate that a few people think that they can get away with murder coz they have been the top team for so long. Guess they have gotten used to winning championships without competition all these years, and cant digest a smaller team with more cojones beating them with half the team size...

ok here we go guys,
car no 5 entered 5 mins early at the checkin TC of the last service of leg 1,for which a penalty of 5min had to be added,but wasnt!!. wherein all the rules stated there was no exemption from the penalty in that case.
this was brought to the notice of the stewards by team MRF,and after going throughly through the rules the stewards penalised car no 5 which SPARKED OFF THE WHOLE CONTROVERSY of the line of protests!!!
on sunday when all the cars were lined up for start, car no 5 also started and midway was not seen on the route,RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!! when all the others were seen on the route why not this car??? if car no 5 had a electrical problem it should have been stranded some where on the rally route rather than..........hidden!!!!why was not the GPS tracking checked???
ok technically speaking,the lower arms on the cedias will accomodate only the J ANANDS,and not the REIGERS which are used on both the top teams. so a cavity has to be made on the lowerarms,which will weaken them,and has to be strengthened.
so if both the teams have used the REIGERS,both have done the same procedure!!!!!!then why the protests???and this particularly was agreed by both the teams VERBALLY.
ONLY THE MITSUBISHI SPORT 06 IS HOMOLOGATED AND NOT THE CEDIA SPORTS 09!!!!!

END OF PART 1.WILL COME BACK WITH ............

Pradeep

That exactly is the root cause. I am saying this after speaking to a few "neutral" people who were present on site. All the people there cannot concoct some story there so it is as true as it gets (none of the teams will confirm or deny these reports obviously).

The lower arms of the cedia on both the teams were as verbally agreed upon before the season start. So I do not know why this was done except with the attitude that if I go down I take everyone else with me.

Who is at fault and who is right is dependent on the individual but the fact remains that the biggest loser is the sport. A sorry end.........

Now that would be one HELLUVA result for Jose .... Im sure hes praying hard !!

What is this ?? Why would a car hide ... pls clarify this in detail pls --- I mean who has ever heard of a car hiding mid way in the stage

Yes of course, khaadu never thought about that..... Some might say that may not be a "deserved" win but according to me it is a "proper" victory as the others had won "illegally".

Also makes me think that if this issue of lower arms had not surfaced and protests not made then as far as the regulations state then both teams were using "illegal" means and neither deserve what they got... Think about it guys... Just because you an I both cheat and do not tell the police doesn't mean that we are right... but then hey it is just sport right? I don't think so......... Wrong or right is a very relative term but I think this time around both the biggies have set an exemplary example for privateers to follow.

It is like all 1400N competitors decide we all use LSD's and no one protests against the others for the same.... it's like meeting your cousin at the wh@@@house and not saying a word to anyone else...

Disgusting............

Cars hiding in the stage.......... why does it seem familiar????????

Ah yes Pune 2007. The Red Cedias took the start and the drivers drove it straight to the hotel. They cited electrical problems but in reality they did not want to run the stages which were rough.... they were widely criticized by a lot of people but hey if I do not want to wreck my car I cannot be forced to drive.

Wether it was "sporting" or not is different, but it is well within the laws.

Like wise I can pull up and out of the road if my car or me have a problem so it is perfectly legal, only I have to inform the CRO, COC or any relevant authority.

Also if I pull out mid way then my car also cannot undergo post event scrutiny unless the technical delegate or any one of the scrutineers demand or someone puts a protest. Gives me ample of time.......

car no 1 started 2min ahead of car no5,and car no 6 started 2min behind.so where did car no 5 go in the transport??? hidden or taken back to their respective hotels, to catch a thief you got to know the secrets of ROBBERY DUDE.

anjay bhai,you guys in the RSC,1400cc and the 1600 cc are the real lucky ones,NO PROTESTS ALL GOOD FRIENDS
for example: arent all the lowerarms used in your categories STRENGTHNED?? which rule book says you can do this???
the front and back bumpers of the ESTEEMS comes in two pieces,upper and lower,and they are held together with small metal clamps fastening both the pieces. IS THIS IN THE NCR or in the TECHNICAL REGULATIONS?????

@ Pradeep, Ignoramus
cc Ronin,

Little knowledge is a dangerous thing , hence these clarifications .

“car no 5 entered 5 mins early at the checkin TC of the last service of leg 1,for which a penalty of 5min had to be added,but wasnt!!. wherein all the rules stated there was no exemption from the penalty in that case.”

Obviously YOU don’t know the rules. The regulations clearly state that the COC has the prerogative to nullify an early entry …..


“this was brought to the notice of the stewards by team MRF”

This information was brought to the notice of the officials ‘in writing’ by comp # 5 Team Red Rooster Racing, immediately after they checked into service and not by Team MRF- this in itself expresses innocence and straightforwardness on the part of a competitor.
Please don’t insult the results coordinators for overlooking a 5 minute early check in.
Also it was Comp #1 who filed a ‘PROTEST’ on the results of day 1 and not 'just' information ‘brought to the notice of the stewards .... ’

If you care to look beyond your nose, read the papers, Gill had a gearbox problem on sat evening which couldn’t be fixed , therefore would have been no match to Vikram on Sunday loosing the lead and with that the win and with that everything …… therefore the only way to win the championship was to make sure Vikram was out of reach, so 'by hook or by crook' seemed to be the mantra of the day.

END of PART 1 .....wait for PART 2 of many

Way to go Sunny!!!

Some forthright statements do help in clearing off a lot of haze