Motorsport News

Dakar leader Al-Attiyah hit by belated FIA seat belt penalty

Dakar leader Al-Attiyah hit by belated FIA seat belt penalty

Al-Attiyah’s sanction follows some controversy over the absence of a penalty imposed on Bahrain Raid Xtreme on Monday after a spare tyre was lost by Sebastien Loeb. But today, the sporting stewards decided that a time penalty was fit for Al-Attiyah’s infraction.

As seen by officials in a video published on social media, Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel, did not have their seat belts and FHR (Front Head Restrictor, similar to HANS) fastened properly for “approximately 1:45 minutes” while the car was in motion. 

The video (below) shows Al-Attiyah stopping on Stage 8 to change a tyre, compared to his Bahrain Raid Xtreme rival. The stewards agreed that the time they took to get out and get back in to the Toyota was “too short to properly fasten the crews’ seatbelts”. They asked to review the organiser’s own onboard cameras to check the incident.

 

The stewards reported that “after boarding the vehicle, the driver engaged the gear and started the vehicle….

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – All – Stories…