The following hearing of the International Court of Appeal took place in Paris on Friday 27 May 2016:

Appeal brought by the Deutscher Motor Sport Bund e.V. (DMSB) on behalf of its license-holder AXION X-raid (X-raid Motorsport GmbH) against a decision dated 2nd March 2016 of the National Appeal Tribunal of the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA), which ruled on an appeal lodged by AXION X-raid (X-raid Motorsport GmbH) against Decision No. 12.4 dated 12th January 2016 by the Stewards of the 2016 Dakar rally

On 11 January 2016, following Stage No. 8, the competitor AXION X-RAID lodged a protest against competitor No. 302 (French driver and co-driver, Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret respectively, driving for AUTOMOBILES PEUGEOT “TEAM PEUGEOT TOTAL”) on the grounds that the later performed a refueling of their vehicle in an alleged forbidden area.

On 12 January 2016, the stewards, by decision No. 12.4 rejected this protest.

On 12 January, AXION X-RAID lodged an appeal before the National Court of Appeal of the FFSA.

On 2 March 2016, the National Court of Appeal of the FFSA confirmed decision No. 12.4 of the stewards.

On 29 March 2016, the Deutscher Motor Sport Bund e.V (DMSB) brought an appeal before the International Court of Appeal against the decision of the National Court of Appeal of the FFSA dated 2 March 2016.

Decision of the International Court of Appeal

The Court, after having heard the parties and examined their submissions,

-          Declared the appeal admissible but unfounded and

-          Rejected consequently the appeal of X-Raid Motorsport GmbH.

The International Court of Appeal was presided over by Mr Philippe NARMINO (Monaco), and included Mr Harry DUIJM (Netherlands), Mr Richard McLAREN (Canada) and Mr Gérard MARTIN (Belgium).

The English version of the decision is available on the FIA site.  The French version can be made available upon request.