Nasser Al-Attiyah was the winner of the Andalusia Rally last weekend together with Mathieu Baumel. The Qatari added another triumph in our country, this time aboard the Toyota Hillux. Of course, the controversy is served with a video that has recently come to light.
The images show how the Qatari “invents” a shortcut during one of the stages, shortening one of the sections on the last day of the rally. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz finished seconds of the test with their Mini at 2 minutes and 40 seconds, but this action could have been key in the course of the rallie.
SoyMotor states this: “From ASO / ODC the intention was even to disqualify Nasser Al-Attiyah for his dangerous and unjustified action. However, the FIA preferred to have wide sleeves with the three-time Dakar winner”. More than the time gained this action could endanger several fans.
The FIA decided to apply a two-minute sanction to the Toyota driver, of course a longer time to win with that action. However, the dangerousness of this type of maneuver led the organization to seriously warn the drivers before starting the race. Teams were forced to stick to the defined road, which in this case was obvious.
The penalty left the final classification of the rally similarly. Nasser Al-Attiyah held the lead, with Sainz and Cruz second. The differences were reduced to 43 seconds. The Madrilenian did not share this decision and, in view of his anger, did not go to the podium at the final awards ceremony.
