The FIA has told DirtFish Hyundai’s claims of illegal recceing in the World Rally Championship are unrepresentative of the series and wide of the mark.
The Korean manufacturer released a statement on Monday morning outlining its position following Thierry Neuville’s disqualification from Safari Rally Kenya on Sunday night.
In that statement, Hyundai talked of the “customary practice of participants accessing the roads to enhance their knowledge.”
FIA road sport director Andrew Wheatley accepted there had been calls from some corners of the service park for the WRC’s sporting regulations to be refined to allow team members or representatives into the stages on safety grounds.
Prior to 2004, teams had been allowed to run gravel crews on all rounds of the world championship. These cars ran through the stage immediately before the roads were closed to check for changes since the recce.
The use of gravel crews was banned on all events except for Monte Carlo in 2004. That rule was eased and restricted to asphalt rallies from 2005 onwards.
That means on gravel rallies like last week’s Safari Rally, nobody is permitted to enter the stage after recce.
Wheatley told DirtFish: “The framework for the running of reconnaissance and respect of a given timetable is defined by Article 35.4.2 of the FIA World Rally Championship, as highlighted in the Stewards Decision No.10.
“We are aware that there have been circumstances in which competitors have expressed their preference for this rule to be changed.
“Yet, the majority of competitors in the WRC don’t have the resources or the will to send personal representatives to inspect the stages before, or after, the official recce.
“This particular issue has been regularly discussed in the WRC Commission and consistently, the representatives of the manufacturers, organizers and the Promoter have voted to uphold the regulation in place.”
The people connected to Neuville were stopped by event officials on a private estate in Kenya.
Wheatley added: “The FIA, in conjunction with the event organizers, work closely on this issue as the use of roads – be they public roads or, as in the case of Safari Rally Kenya, private reserve – is a very delicate balance for local residents and land owners.
“As such, it is imperative that all access is monitored and managed. Unauthorized access could create significant issues that could lead to the removal of the option to use the road.
“On this basis, we do not consider illegal recceing as a ‘customary practice’ and characterizing it in this way does not reflect the position of the WRC Commission and its members.
“Modifications to the road conditions and itinerary between recce and the rally are avoided to the extent possible. Whenever changes are required, these are very well informed to all competitors.
“As a concrete example, a section of the Hell’s Gate stage on Safari Rally 2022 was rebuilt between recce and the rally due to extreme damage on an uphill section. As a result, the first run of the powerstage was shortened by five kilometers to allow crews to drive the repaired road as a road section and check the road conditions before the high-speed powerstage run.”
Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe were excluded from eighth place by the stewards for the Naivasha-based seventh WRC round of the season.
