2023 Rallye du Maroc: Eryk Goczal, team reprimanded for rescue fire

Eryk Goczał is under fire from the FIA for starting a literal fire during Stage #2 of the Rallye du Maroc while he was stranded in the desert with a broken-down car. Although he intended to use the fire to signal for help from his team, it is illegal under Moroccan law which prompted the sanctioning body to issue a reprimand. Goczał has since apologised and donated €5,000 to the United Nations World Food Programme‘s Morocco chapter in compensation.

During the second leg of the rally on Monday, both the front and rear differentials broke on Goczał’s MCE-5 Taurus T3 Max. He and co-driver Oriol Mena stopped but could not make repairs themselves, so they were left waiting for their EnergyLandia Rally Team to arrive with assistance.

According to Goczał, matters were exacerbated by a lack of cell phone service in the desert and his location relayed to the team being inaccurate.

“Contrary to what you saw in the photos, the atmosphere was not nice at all, a lot of time passed and help didn’t arrive,” he explained. “We had no phone reception, after a few hours we managed to get some contact with the team, it turned out that the coordinates given to the mechanics were not correct. The place where we waited was very close to the Algerian border. Local residents warned that this area was not safe and that we need to get back to the bivouac in [Zagora] as soon as possible.”

Eventually, the duo “received information that the local assistant of our team suggested lighting a fire in the place where we were,” which would double as a smoke signal for the team. To do this, Goczał and Mena poured a canister of gasoline over nearby bushes with a trail a distance away that they ignited. Help finally arrived at the pair six hours later.

The drivers later posted their misadventure on social media to mixed reception. While one side commended them for taking a drastic measure if it ensured their eventual safety and compared it to rally raids of yore, others expressed concern about the environmental impact.

“All our actions were aimed at finding us and helping us get back to the bivouac. Night was coming really fast, and then the rescue operation and repair of the car in the desert would be much more difficult,” Goczał continued. “I want to clarify the situation in case someone take our photos with fire as fun. I assure you that despite the smiles on our faces, it was an action that we considered necessary at that moment and was not intended to destroy local nature for no reason.”

Despite giving their side of the story, the team was later summoned by the FIA on Tuesday as starting fires in Morocco is illegal due to the high risk of escalating into wildfires.
Abderrahim Abdane, president of the Morocco’s motoring association Fédération Royale Marocaine des Sports automobiles (FRMSA), also notified the sanctioning body’s manager about the matter.

“The crew members acted extremely irresponsibly and uploaded photos confirming such unjustifiable actions to social networks, thereby promoting unauthorised behavior incompatible with the fundamental principles and goals of the FIA,” stated the FIA stewards’ report. “In this way, it violated the legislation of the Moroccan state, which provides for extremely strict responsibility for actions of this kind. But moral aspects are also important. In Morocco, more recently, there was an earthquake that claimed casualties.

“Crew behavior caused great damage to nature. Of course, it has caused enormous damage to the entire motorsport community. including, but not limited to, the organiser of the event Rally du Maroc, W2RC promoter, FIA. The FIA is making a huge effort to ensure that the motorsport community is as involved as much as possible in the promotion of nature conservation and responsible behavior in order to contribute to the promotion of green policies.

“The crew’s behavior showed extreme disrespect for the FIA’s goals. It should be noted that such unjustified actions were performed by the driver, who is the priority driver of the FIA W2RC. The crew members explained that in this way (by setting fire to the natural vegetation of nature) they sought to help their team members find their way to them with burning fire when they stopped and could not continue to drive due to a car damage. They stated that the fire was supposed to help find them in the dark.

“However, after the stewards conducted an additional investigation, it became obvious that the team members reached the crew before it got dark. This is confirmed by the photos that the stewards received during the investigation. This calls into question the sincerity of the explanations of the crew members. The crew undertook to take the necessary steps to minimise the damage caused.”

The FIA eventually concluded Goczał and Mena were genuinely remorseful for their actions, hence the decision not to provide further discipline beyond a fine.

Goczał, the 2023 Dakar Rally winner in the T4 class, was making his début in the T3 category. After winning the Prologue and Stage #1, his hopes of claiming the overall ended with the chaotic Monday and an engine failure the following day. His father Marek Goczał ended up winning the class outright ahead of World Rally-Raid Champion Seth Quintero.