[WRC] Safari Rally Kenya 2023 (22-25 June 2023)

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Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

Why would Hyundai throw their top driver under the bus and not one of their others if that was possible ?

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Because throwing Lappi or Sordo under the bus would be terribly unfair towards them and they might not stand for it. The guy who was caught said he was linked to Neuville, who's Hyundai's first driver and the one Hyundai cares the most to give additional info.
If the guy would have said "I was hired by the Hyundai team" = 3 DQs, maybe a bigger penalty for Hyundai.

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Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

Its clear the recce was done for the benefit of Neuville either instigated by himself or the team, thars why only he is blamed. And I dont see Neuville apologising if it was organised by the team.

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I absolutely see Neuville taking the blame for the team to avoid 3 DQs and maybe more. It's a shame he's so loyal to that team. And by the point he was being questioned, he knew he was going to be DQd regardless.
And you're welcome to write down a plausible scenario in which Neuville instigated the illegal recce by himself, one that doesn't belong to fairy tales.

Nothing new, thought everyone was awere of this especially after Jari and Petter was stopped from doing recce. And on new events it's not like they see the stages for the first time on recce...

@focus206 It's far from impossible that Neuville got someone to do the illegal recce and his later statement as good as confirms it for me.

“When asked, the Driver of Car No. 11 promptly admitted to the Stewards that he was aware of the identified person and that he had requested this person’s support in identifying specific concerns (areas where rocks had moved) in some Special Stages that the Crew will be required to compete on.

“The Driver presented an honest synopsis of the situation and apologised to the Stewards for his lapse in judgement. The Driver took the onus of responsibility for this infringement."

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Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

@focus206 It's far from impossible that Neuville got someone to do the illegal recce and his later statement as good as confirms it for me.

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You keep copying and pasting what we all read from the Stewards. I thought a rally fan was able to read more between the lines of the sport... Let's break down these sentences again:
"When asked, the Driver of Car No. 11 promptly admitted to the Stewards that he was aware of the identified person" = he was aware, just like Hyundai was, very probably Lappi and Sordo were. There was no way of denying it.
"and that he had requested this person’s support in identifying specific concerns (areas where rocks had moved) in some Special Stages that the Crew will be required to compete on." = as I said multiple times already, if Neuville would have said the person was hired by Hyundai, the consequence would have been DQ for Neuville, Sordo, Lappi and a much worse negative press for Hyundai, maybe even a bigger penalty for the team.
"The Driver presented an honest synopsis of the situation and apologised to the Stewards for his lapse in judgement. The Driver took the onus of responsibility for this infringement." = same as above. What was he supposed to say? It's Hyundai's fault? He would have got DQd anyway and the team he apparently wants to spend his whole career in, unfortunately, wouldn't have liked that. It's Lappi or Sordo's fault? Come on, that's low...

I'm still waiting for you or Colin Clark to write down how is it possible that a Belgian driver in Kenya hires with his own money a guy to do illegal recce unbeknownst to the team. Saying "It's far from impossible" it's not a scenario. And I find it quite incredible you don't think that it's extremely more probable it's Hyundai that hires illegal recce (not the first time, probably not the last time) rather than undercover single drivers.

@focus206 I would say you are right in your assessment - it was either going to be one Hyundai driver, or all of them. He's taken the hit to avoid a whole-team DQ.

The most surprising thing is that Thierry / Martijn were the ones who ended up taking the penalty. We can only assume the person caught on the stages was wearing a 'Braver@Home' t-shirt, carrying a can of Jupiler, or spoke with a particularly strong Belgian accent.

While it is possible that the activity was actually arranged or coordinated by the team, I wouldn't say it's too far-fetched for individual crews themselves to arrange their own illegal gravel crew. At least, in the sense that some people in the camp might actually be aware it's going on, but in a way that can't be traced back to the team itself. That way, if they get caught, it will not result in the whole team being disqualified. Plausible deniability and all that. They're probably even briefed as such - to only admit to working for an individual crew.

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Originally Posted by ouvreur

The most surprising thing is that Thierry / Martijn were the ones who ended up taking the penalty. We can only assume the person caught on the stages was wearing a 'Braver@Home' t-shirt, carrying a can of Jupiler, or spoke with a particularly strong Belgian accent.

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To me, the recce guy was either chosen to be Neuville's guy (meaning that Sordo and Lappi's guys weren't caught) or since Neuville is Hyundai's priority driver, for sure his concerns with those particular rocks had the priority over Sordo and Lappi's concerns. For the recce guy to say he was Lappi or Sordo's guy would have been such a low blow to them... And as you said, they're probably instructed to admit to be working for one driver.

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Originally Posted by ouvreur

While it is possible that the activity was actually arranged or coordinated by the team, I wouldn't say it's too far-fetched for individual crews themselves to arrange their own illegal gravel crew. At least, in the sense that some people in the camp might actually be aware it's going on, but in a way that can't be traced back to the team itself. That way, if they get caught, it will not result in the whole team being disqualified. Plausible deniability and all that. They're probably even briefed as such - to only admit to working for an individual crew.

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I could believe crews arranging their own illegal recce if it was Neuville in Ypres, Tanak in Estonia/Finland, Delecour in Monte etc.
But in Safari? I think the chance the recce wasn't coordinated by the team is microscopic.

I think the most important think in this story is who really was that person who was caught. For example, if it was brother of Thierry, everything should be more clear...

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Originally Posted by PLuto

I think the most important think in this story is who really was that person who was caught. For example, if it was brother of Thierry, everything should be more clear...

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I hear the surname might have been De Mevius. If you believe rumours.

Sounds Belgian to me.

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Originally Posted by rallyfiend

I hear the surname might have been De Mevius. If you believe rumours.

Sounds Belgian to me.

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Maybe?

https://www.ewrc-results.com/profile...ain-de-mevius/

'Reading between the lines' is just your opinion @focus206. And I bet you had a low opinion of Colin Clark already so no surprise you disagree with him.

I prefer to look at the majority of rally website reports, most of whom carry the interpretation that it was a person who was part of Neuville's background group. If this is true then it's an easy thing for him to have done.