2023 Rallye du Maroc: Martin Macik Jr. disqualified

Martin Macík Jr.‘s World Rally-Raid Championship pursuit has come to an abrupt end. On Tuesday evening, following the fourth and penultimate stage of the season-ending Rallye du Maroc, FIA stewards announced Macík has been disqualified from the rally because his truck’s turbocharger restrictor did not meet regulations. He had been leading the overall prior prior to the penalty.

After Stage #4 on Tuesday, the FIA Technical Delegate raised a report about multiple T5 trucks and their engine restrictors. Under Article 287, Section 5.7.2 of the FIA International Sporting Code’s Appendix J, “all engines must be fitted with an air restrictor. All the air necessary for feeding the engine must pass through this restrictor, which must comply with Article 284-6.1, except for its internal maximum diameter which is 74 mm.”

A hearing was conducted in the evening. According to the stewards’ report, Macík conceded he was unable to explain why his truck’s restrictor had the incorrect dimensions; after his team measured the offending part for confirmation, they argued it was unlikely to create a performance advantage. Nonetheless, the FIA ruled that under Article 1.3.3 of the ISC, non-compliant vehicles have “no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.”

“The stewards conclude that, in view of the clear provisions of the relevant regulations, it was indeed up to the competitor to ensure that the restrictor was compliant during Rallye du Maroc 2023,” the report continued. “If the competitor wishes, he can ask the Technical Delegate or scrutineers during the pre-event scrutineering to check the restrictor.

“The International Court of Appeal has already deemed in the past that in ‘exceptional circumstances, the objective responsibility of a competitor for a case of non-compliance of its car can lead to a less severe sanction than disqualification.’ The stewards cannot see any exceptional circumstances in this matter.”

The disqualification eliminates Macík from W2RC contention. Entering the Rallye du Maroc, he was second in the T5 standings with 102 points to Janus van Kasteren‘s 113. Van Kasteren defeated Macík in the first and only other T5 race of 2023 at the Dakar Rally; despite winning a class-high five stages, Macík was set back in the overall by an early brake failure and finished runner-up by over an hour.

Macík and van Kasteren traded blows throughout the Rallye du Maroc, with the former winning the first and third stages while the latter took the second and fourth. A poor start to the rally caused van Kasteren to quickly fall behind in the general ranking, and he was trailing Macík 1:31:58 prior to the disqualification. Entering the final stage on Wednesday, van Kasteren has 127 points while Macík would have had 120 if not for the penalty.

Third-placed Tomas Vratny only had 66 points entering Morocco, rendering him too far back to catch either of the leaders.

As such, van Kasteren is all but assured to be the second and final W2RC T5 champion, joining 2022 winner Kees Koolen. Since the class only ran two of the five races on the calendar, its championship will be discontinued in 2024.