Knowledge de Villarre is punished much more severely for another incident with a motorcyclist

Žinils de Viljērs

We’ve already reportedthat one of the favorites in the Dakar Rally, Knowledge de Villarre, received a five – minute penalty for the athlete hitting a motorcyclist and not stopping to make sure the rider was not injured in the accident.

The next day, de Villier was involved in another incident with a motorcyclist, for which he received a much harsher punishment – five hours was added to his result.

The statement said de Villier, who at one point was fourth in the overall standings, hit another motorcycle, causing “serious mechanical damage” to the Moroccan athlete’s motorcycle. De Villarre judges found that “they did not hear any alarm from Sentinel [automašīnu savstarpējās saziņas sistēma, kas brīdina konkurentus par apdraudējumiem ātrumposmos]”but acknowledged that” we have no doubt we have received a signal. “

The 2009 winner said that Sentinel Denis Murphy, a co-driver on the floor of the car, may have accidentally turned off the button on an uneven stage.

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De Villeier added, “As we crossed the dune, we saw a motorcyclist sitting behind the invisible part of the dune, and I avoided him so as not to injure him. At the bottom of the dune we turned to make sure the motorcyclist was not injured, but we didn’t feel that would have crossed his motorcycle. “

Later, de Villier met with the athlete at the FIM jury in Bivoco and reached an agreement with the motorcyclist to compensate KTM for the damage to the motorcycle. “We are very uncomfortable that something like this is happening. We are very sorry for this incident,” de Villier said.

Stewards said in a statement that they considered “the crew’s actions to be a breach of the regulations, which must have consequences.”

As a result, de Villier is effectively eliminated from the fight for the top ten in this year’s Dakar Rally, but he can still take part in the rest of the race.

At present, de Villier is 35th in the overall standings after five stages, with the leader losing five hours and 48 minutes. Without these two penalties, the athlete would now be in third place.

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