The marshals’ decision was as follows: “The OBSC video received by the marshals undoubtedly shows that immediately after boarding the vehicle, the driver engaged gear and started the vehicle.
“In addition, the video shows that the crew was busy for 1m45s to correctly fasten the seat belts. For a short period of time, the co-pilot even held the steering wheel to give the driver the option of wearing his seat belt.
The Sporting Regulations for Cross-Country Rallies stipulate in article 48.1 that: L Chapter III – driver’s equipment as provided by the equipment manufacturer and to have his seat belts correctly fastened.
The sanction is the latest in a long string of sanctions imposed on this year’s Dakar, with Toyota’s Al-Attiyah teammate Giniel de Villiers receiving a five-minute penalty following an incident with a biker on opening day.
De Villiers, who won the ninth stage in a Toyota one-two-three, then received a five-hour penalty for a separate incident which was later called off after new evidence emerged.
Al-Attiyah himself is also competing for a conditional disqualification for a data logger issue on the second day.
While Al-Attiyah was fined, his main Dakar rival Loeb escaped his own penalty on Monday after losing a spare tire after also stopping to replace a flat tire. .