Autosportfoto

Blaze sidelines Guerra from Argentina

Benito Guerra will miss next month's WRC 2 fixture in Argentina after fire destroyed his car before Rally Guanajuato Mexico earlier this month.

The Mexican was set to contest his home rally in a Skoda Fabia R5, but a blaze during a pre-event test ended his hopes and has also ruled him out of Rally Argentina (26 - 29 April).

Guerra has been given permission to change his nominated scoring events by the FIA but admitted he was disappointed to miss the south American event.

"The car has to go back to Europe in a container, not airfreight," he explained. "A new car is needed and we will miss Argentina. I like that rally, I was on the podium last time. I also have a lot of fans in Argentina," he said.

Guerra will now start his campaign at Vodafone Rally de Portugal [17 - 20 May] before tackling European rounds in Italy, Germany, Spain, Great Britain and Turkey. He will tackle Kennards Hire Rally Australia as his seventh nominated event.

Describing the fire that gutted his Fabia R5, the WRC 2 podium finisher said: "I was doing a co-driving experience for winners of TV and radio competitions. During the last lap with one of my mechanics, I noticed a strange odour in the car. It was smelling of burning and the brake pipe was broken.

"The car started to catch fire by the left rear wheel. My team manager said I had to get out of the car and as I was walking a few metres from the car I heard a strange boom, not an explosion, and the car was on fire inside.

"It was so crazy. I have never seen anything like this before. It was very bad for us. Ninety per cent of the car was burned."

Zdroj: wrc.com