- Title: FRANCE: FIA FINE COLIN MCRAE FOR DRIVING INTO SPECTATORS
- Date: 20th August 1996
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (AUGUST 20, 1996) 1. EXTERIOR FIA HEADQUARTERS 2. COLIN MCCRAE SPEAKS ABOUT THE HEARING, SAYS THE PENALTY WAS A FINE, NO SUSPENSION, WHICH MEANS HE CAN CONCENTRATE ON THE NEXT RALLY 100 PERCENT. THE SECURITY IS A BIG ISSUE AND WE (WITH ORGANISERS) WILL WORK TOGETHER IN FUTURE TO INCREASE SAFETY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE (ENGLISH) 3. BOARD MEMBERS CHATTING AND LEAVING HEARING 4. MAX MOSLEY SAYS MCCRAE HAD EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES AND LOTS OF SPECTATORS IN THE SPECIAL STAGE, NORMALLY THERE WOULD BE A SUSPENSION BUT THIS TIME IT'S ONLY A BIG FINE OF 250,000 BUT 175,000 WILL BE SUSPENDED UNLESS THERE IS ANOTHER INCIDENT DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR (ENGLISH) Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 4th September 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City:
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA6L6FUU8V0FU2WM8MJHQ6OZYWV
- Story Text: World rally champion Colin McRae of Britain has been fined 250,000 US dollars - 175,000 dollars of it suspended -- after running into spectators in a service area during last month's Argentine rally.
International Autosport Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley said McRae would only have to pay 75,000 dollars provided he did not repeat the offence and was free to take part in the next rally, the 1,000 Lakes in Finland this weekend.
McRae told reporters after the hearing the outcome was very positive because it meant he could go straight back to rally driving without any suspension and concentrate one hundred percent.
MacRae said everyone realised security is a big issue and they would have to work together in the future to see safety was improved as much as possible.
Mosley said MacRae had a lot of extenuating circumstances because there were many spectators in the area but he had admitted he was going too fast.
Mosley said normally he would have imposed a one or two rally suspension but the board had decided to suspend part of the fine because it was a first offence.
Mosley said it was important that service areas be freely open to the public and speed limits there be observed.
Also on Friday, FIA annouced sweeping changes to the future shape and political balance of Formula One, including the abolition of Friday practice sessions.
The FIA said the changes were part of a package of alterations made to the new Concorde Agreement -- a formal accord between the sport's governing body and some of the teams -- to run from 1997 to 2001.
Changes include an agreement by the teams to stay in Formula One until 2001, a guarantee of 20-car grids, a 17-race season and the scrapping of Friday practice.
The FIA also said the teams would in future accept an 80 percent majority instead of unanimous agreement for any sporting or technical changes and would agree not to test anywhere in the week before a race or between the end of the season, usually October or November, and December 1.
A new system of prize money allocation had been introduced to distribute evenly the vast amounts of television income generated by the sport.
Three teams appear to be unhappy with the new deal. McLaren and Tyrrell refused to sign the proposal and Williams withdrew from agreeing to it on August 2.
The lack of support of these world championship-winning teams suggested that they could cause political problems for the sport which might even lead to their non-participation in the future.
Even though they were not signatories they would be allowed to compete with the consent of the Formula One Commission.
It is believed that the three very experienced teams, with a total of 1,178 grands prix behind them in the last 30 years, objected to the loss of Friday's practice on safety grounds. They argued that it was necessary to have a day in which to set cars up correctly for both qualifying and racing.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None