Time penalty for Kalle Rovanperä in New Zealand

Kalle Rovanperä gives five seconds of goodness to others. PDO

Kalle Rovanperä has received a five-second time penalty in the World Rally Championship in New Zealand.

The information about the penalty came just before the start of Saturday’s driving day on the other side of the world.

Rovanperä was penalized for the same reason as his World Cup racing partner Ott Tänak previously. The hybrid power unit of both rally driver’s cars momentarily produced too much power.

The maximum amount in the rules is set at 240 kilojoules, but the jury noticed that Rovanperä received 240.16 kilojoules of energy.

Before the competition, the teams had received information about how much energy can be extracted from the hybrid unit by spinning the crowd. Toyota Technical Director Tom Fowler gave the jury an explanation as to why Rovanperä barely crossed the border.

– Fowler accepted the measured value. However, he reasoned that there was no decimal point for the limit value in the bulletin, which is why the sensor reading could be a maximum of 240.4 kJ before it exceeds the limit value, the jury’s decision states.

– In addition, he pointed out that the sensor reading of the hybrid unit installed in car number 69 (Rovanperä’s car) is about a percent off compared to the Kenyan Safari rally, where the unit was last used.

The jury, on the other hand, found the set limit to be the maximum value.

– For this reason, the jury does not accept the competitor’s first argument. In addition, the jury points out that it is the competitor’s responsibility to ensure that the sensors give reliable results.

Elfyn Evans leads the rally by 4.8 seconds to Tänak. With the penalty, Rovanperä is 12 seconds behind his teammate.

In the coming night, the rally will be run for six EK. Rovanperä has a chance to secure the championship this weekend.