OMV Kronos driver decides to pull out from 3rd legFrançois Duval ended the second leg of the French Tour de Corse in fourth overall position today despite gearbox and brake problems that affected his OMV Kronos Citroën Xsara during the last two stages, SS11 and SS12.
After authoring a few solid runs, having mechanical issues was disappointing even if he did manage to complete all the day's routes.
But the story would not end there however, as Duval explained: "We had an alternator problem on special stage 11. The battery wasn't recharging. We lost the gear levers on the steering wheel for the last two stages of the day. I therefore had to use the brakes more often, which penalised me very much. With no more juice in the battery, I was forced to stop on the liaison route!"
According to the new FIA regulations, a ten-minute penalty was issued and added to Duval's total running time. That placed him far away down the line, over six minutes behind the competitor in eighth place, the last point-scoring position.
Consequently, the Belgian driver has decided to simply retire from the Corsican rally.
"Ten minutes, that's a lot! I do not see the interest of being at the start tomorrow. It would be useless to wear out tyres and use gas for nothing. And I'm not protected against an incident. Therefore I believe that it would be completely useless to participate in Sunday's third leg," the Belgian said.
"Despite the disappointment, I'm in a positive state of mind for I had the opportunity this week-end to show that I was capable of being quick," concluded François Duval.
