Thierry Neuville has been disqualified from Safari Rally Kenya on Sunday evening after event stewards found the Belgian had carried out illegal reconnaissance activities during the rally.
The Hyundai Motorsport driver finished eighth overall in the seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship but was disqualified by the event’s stewards after a hearing at the rally base in Naivasha.
The commissioners summarized the conclusion of the report received from the secretary, of course, which was initiated independently by the organizers of the Safari Rally. He indicated cases where an unauthorized person was seen, after reconnaissance, driving on routes that would be used as special tests throughout the rally.
The individual was on private property without permission and was stopped by officers at two locations on two separate days. The evidence presented to the commissioners indicated ties of this person to Neuville.
When questioned, Neuville immediately admitted to the commissioners that he knew the identified person and that he had asked for that person’s support in identifying specific concerns (areas where rocks had moved) on some special stages.
Article 35.4.2 of the FIA WRC 2023 Sporting Regulations states that: “After the publication of the Special Regulations, only with the express authorization of the Circuit Director and the FIA Rally Department may any person travel related to an entered crew. or on the route of a special stage of the rally (except on foot). This rule will apply until the end of the special stage, open to public traffic and will cease to be used within the rally.”
The full report is available as ‘Commissioners’ Decision 10′ on the official notice board of the Safari Rally Kenya event website.
In another decision on Sunday evening, stewards Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were penalized two minutes for using one more tire than their allotted number of 26. The two-minute penalty had no impact on qualifying general of the couple with Martin Prokop still almost nine minutes. in arrears Neuville’s disqualification put Solberg in ninth overall.
