Al-Attiyah-Baumel subject to suspensive disqualification

A little more and the Dakar 2022 was deprived of its leader after only two stages. Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) sont passés tout près de la correctionnelle si l’on en juge une décision des commissaires du Championnat du monde des rally-raids (W2RC), broadcast Tuesday January 4 at 9 a.m. Saudi time.

Indeed, the Toyota Hilux T1+ bearing number 201 performed the entire second stage between Ha'il and Al Qaisumah with a disconnected data logger. This means that the FIA ​​stewards have not could not check if the turbo boost exceeded the defined measurements or not by the technical regulations, for the simple reason that no information was recorded on the special.

However, the regulations require top teams (Audi, BRX, Toyota in particular) to respect a power curve in order to preserve sporting fairness. The Toyota Hilux in its T1+ configuration has a twin-turbo petrol V6.

A solid performance saw #TGR consolidate after a wild opening stage. Nasser/Mathieu opened the route, but still finished 2nd, and continued to lead in the overall standings. Here is the summary of the day. #TeamHilux #TGRW2RC #TGRDakar2022 pic.twitter.com/KQsXe3reQU

— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally-Raid & Dakar Team (@TGR_W2RC) January 3, 2022

Jean-Marc Fortin, the team manager of Overdrive, the team in charge of maintaining Toyota 4x4s, sees this as a “simple error of (his) mechanics ». “They just forgot to connect the data logger to the battery. We disconnect the datalogger every night for security reasons. I will now check that the datalogger is correctly connected every day”, announces the Belgian.

In this case, a disqualification of the crew must in principle be taken under the regulations sporty. This one remains suspensive until the end of the Dakar 2022, and will be ratified in the event of a similar error by the final arrival in Jeddah on January 14. In addition, the team must fulfill a financial penalty of 5 euros within 48 hours to the FIA.

The jury of commissioners explains this relative leniency. “The International Court of Appeal has already ruled in the past that in “exceptional circumstances” the objective liability of the competitor in a case of non-compliance with the rules of his car provoked a less severe sanction than disqualification.

The commissioners determined that such exceptional circumstances prevailed in this case. The Dakar consists of 12 days of competition and the infraction was discovered in the second stage, while the car was technically compliant during the first stage. An exclusion for the rest of the test does not seem proportional, especially since the driver (represented by JM Fortin) confirmed that he would rectify this problem as soon as possible so that the car complies with the regulations for the following 10 days. »