2023 Dakar Rally: Yasir Seaidan penalised, faces disqualification for co-driver’s watch

Penalties at the Dakar Rally are typically imposed for violations like missing waypoints or speeding, but T4 driver Yasir Seaidan has received one of the more unusual ones. On Thursday, FIA stewards announced Seaidan has been issued a thirty-minute time penalty and faces a disqualification from the race altogether after co-driver Alexey Kuzmich wore an unapproved wristwatch during Stage #4.

The Dakar Rally is partners with Rebellion Timepieces, a Swiss watchmaker who has also affiliated with racing entities like the FIA World Rallycross Championship, the Andros Trophy, and Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN. As part of their deal, the Rebellion Edition Dakar watch is given to all Dakar Rally participants for timekeeping.

At the end of the fourth stage on Tuesday, Kuzmich was spotted wearing his own watch. Although this might seem to be a trivial matter, Article 9.1.6 of the FIA Cross Country Rally Sporting Regulations declares, “Watches of any kind are not permitted in the competition vehicle, with the exception of the model provided by the Promoter.”

Kuzmich defended the decision as he believed the Rebellion watch was merely a gift and was unaware it is the only timepiece permitted. He also added his team needed a watch to know the time. The stewards cited the FIA International Sporting Code’s Article 12.1.1 by explaining that “offences or infringements are punishable, whether they were committed intentionally or through negligence.”

The race’s Clerk of the Course Pedro Almeida stressed in his opening communication to the field on 30 December 2022, a day before the Prologue: “With reference to 2023 FIA CCRSR / V1 Art. 9.1.6, the watches make/model Rebellion Edition Dakar delivered by the Promoter to the crews during Administrative Checks are the only watches permitted in the competition vehicle.”

Eight other articles in the ISC were also brought up by the FIA to justify the ruling: 11.9.1 (“The stewards shall have supreme authority for the enforcement of the Code”), 11.9.3.f and g (“Within the framework of their duties, they notably may impose penalties and may decide to suspend any penalty in accordance with Article 12.2.3”), 12.3.1 (“Any breach of the Code, of the regulations of the FIA if appropriate, of the national rules, or of any Supplementary Regulations committed by any Organiser, official, Competitor, Driver, Participant, other licence-holder, or other person or organisation may be penalised”), 12.4.1.h and m (“Penalties may be inflicted as follows: time penalty and disqualification”), 12.9.1 (“A sentence of Disqualification may be pronounced by the stewards”), and 12.4.6 (“The penalties referred to in Articles 12.4.1 and 12.4.5 above may, where appropriate, be cumulated or applied with suspension of sentence”).

The time penalty adds thirty minutes to Seaidan’s Stage #4 result, meaning his original time of 5:27:57 becomes 5:57:57 and drops him from fifth in class to fifteenth. However, he remains thirty-second in the overall T4 standings after being hampered by a retirement in Stage #1. Seaidan finished third in class in the most recent leg on Thursday.

The disqualification is “suspended until the end of Rally Dakar 2023 subject to no further breach of similar nature committed by the competitor during this period.”

Seaidan plans to race for the World Rally-Raid T4 Championship in 2023. Kuzmich is a Russian co-driver using an United Arab Emirates licence, having signed the FIA’s measures condemning his country’s invasion of Ukraine. The invasion policy has resulted in many Russian entities, most notably nineteen-time Truck champion KAMAZ-master, withdrawing from Dakar save for exceptions like T1 driver Denis Krotov (Kyrgyzstan) and his navigator Konstantin Zhiltsov (neutral FIA flag).

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