The South African Toyota Gazoo Racing driver has been involved in two consecutive incidents (stage 1 and stage 2) in the 2022 Dakar event with two bike riders.
The FIA sanctioned the 2009 Dakar winner on Monday with a five-minute penalty for hitting Chilean César Zumaran at the top of a strecht pass and not stopping to help him, but the second penalty was much more severe.
De Villiers ran into Moroccan rider Mohamedsaid Aoulad Ali coming down a dune, although he was able to avoid the competitor, he ran over his Morocco Racing Team KTM and left it unusable at around 11.00 local time on Monday during stage 2.
“We have not heard any alarm signal from Sentinel (car-to-car communication system). We do not doubt that we have received a signal. The problem is that the button for the Sentinel is located on the floor of the co-driver’s side,” read de Villiers’ statement.
“During the Selective Section, the co-driver’s feet jump back and forth and can easily, accidentally press the…
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