In a statement released on Saturday evening, Dakar organizers announced the disqualification of crews #302 and #310 after a technical inspection. The first was Eric Govala and Oriol Mena, who led the rally, and the second was Michal Govala and Shimon Gospodarczyk. The reason was the use of prohibited carbon in clutch components. Both crews have already been removed from the official results.
See also: They had to spend the night alone in the desert! Poles coped with the problem
However, the Polish national team believes that it has not broken the rules and suspects that another team is responsible for all this.
“Regarding the information about the disqualification of Eric and Michal, we would like to point out that in fact on January 13, 2024 – after checking the claws in the cars of Eric and Michal – the organizer decided to disqualify both teams. However, we emphasize that we do not agree, disagree with this decision and believe that it is wrong. According to information that has reached us, which we cannot confirm, the verification could have been done on behalf of some other team participating in the promotion. In order to exclude the main competitors from the rally (we remind you that after the 6th stage Eric gained more than 1 hour advantage over the other team, which is a higher than average value for this rally) – it was written.
The Energylandia team claims that it complied with the regulations and that the design changes did not affect the performance of the machines.
“The regulations have been fully studied by the Energylandia Rally Team and all team members and there is no error or oversight on the part of the Energylandia Rally Team. The Energylandia Rally Team has received assurances from the technical people connected to the organizers to connect the elements. It is allowed to be made of carbon, in particular, It does not provide any advantages or affect the performance of the vehicle. We emphasize that such a design has not had any effect on the performance of the vehicle. We would like to point out that the very literal content of the technical content part of the regulation imposes special regulations in terms of the absence of material restrictions in the design and materials of the bracket.” – It is written in the statement.
The team noted that competitors have filed complaints, but they will likely be heard after the promotion ends, barring them from further participation.
“We do not fully agree with the decision of the organizers. At this stage, we emphasize that Eric and Michal have announced their readiness to appeal the case, however, due to the regulations in force at the Dakar Rally – the appeal can be recognized for 30 days and what “actually deprives Reik and Michal of the opportunity to reach a high position (or win ) in this edition of the rally – even if the appeal is accepted (due to the appeal, this year's edition of the rally will not wait for the decision), – it was noted.
In a statement, the team emphasized that the day before, the organizers revoked the accreditation of Agata Govala – Eric's mother and Marek's wife, thereby depriving her of the opportunity to stay at the participants' camp. However, he did not specify the reason for the withdrawal of accreditation.
jb, PAP