Josh McErlean and Adrien Fourmaux have both been hit with one-minute penalties after EKO Acropolis Rally Greece, reshaping the final WRC top six hours after the stages had finished.
WRC confirmed on Sunday evening that M-Sport Ford driver McErlean and Hyundai Motorsport’s Fourmaux were called to separate FIA stewards’ meetings after the rally. Both crews were ruled to have failed to fasten their safety belts before their cars were in motion.
The verdict was severe enough to wipe out what would have been McErlean’s best WRC result. The Irishman dropped from fourth to sixth, while Fourmaux slipped from fifth to seventh.
Toyota pair gain from late stewards call
Fourmaux’s breach was recorded on SS12 on Saturday afternoon, while McErlean’s came on Sunday’s penultimate stage. That timing made the decision particularly brutal for McErlean, whose result had looked set to underline M-Sport Ford’s strongest weekend of the season.
The main beneficiaries were Toyota’s Sami Pajari and championship leader Elfyn Evans. Pajari was promoted to fourth, with Evans moving into fifth, strengthening Toyota’s points return on a weekend already defined by Sebastien Ogier’s Acropolis victory.
For McErlean and Fourmaux, the damage is not just numerical. Both had converted a punishing Greek rally into hard-earned top-five road position, only for procedural infringements to turn strong drives into a stewards-room setback.
Source: WRC.com
