Akibrokštas Dakar: following the Lithuanian complaint, the judges visited the Juknevičius field

After the completion of the tenth stage, the riders who had just returned to the bivouac and stopped in the area assigned to the team were received by the competition judge. He inspected the car, photographed the tires, and photographed the other tires on the team truck.

It turned out that the news reached the judges that the Lithuanian crew car could be fitted with tires with a different tread. When asked who brought that message to the judges, he did not hide that he had received information from another Lithuanian crew, but did not mention which one.

“The judge just said it was a ‘part of the game’,” said A. Juknevičius, quoted by him.

It is not yet clear what consequences await the crew: the judges will still pronounce the verdict, but a different tread pattern may be supported by a violation of protocol.

“We are running out of tires so we decided to fit five year old tires. They are from the same manufacturer, size, only the tread pattern differs.

Although we are on the priority list, we had to make that decision because we simply don’t have tires anymore, explained A. Juknevičius, saying that the drivers on the priority list should choose single-pattern tires in the race and drive only on them.

Dakar Rally classification after X stages

All terrain vehicles

Motorcycles (Original Motul incl.)

ATVs