Feryn Dakar Sport was hoping to field a pair of Toyota Land Cruisers at the 2023 Dakar Rally, but the FIA has ruled otherwise. The team announced Friday that the FIA rejected the #257 and #268 Land Cruisers of Koen Wauters and Tom de Leeuw because their rollcages do not meet regulations.
The Feryns were going to take part in the 2023 Rally after running the Dakar Classic in 2022. De Leeuw, with Cédric Feryn as co-driver, finished eighth overall in a Mercedes-Benz 2635A truck while Pascal Feryn and Wauters were twelfth in a Land Cruiser 100. Wauters is no stranger to the Rally, having competed in it twelve times throughout the 2000s and early 2010s while being a household name in Belgian music and television.
Until the FIA’s verdict, de Leeuw and Cédric were scheduled to run the #268 Land Cruiser whereas Wauters and Pascal raced the #257; both cars were entered in the T2 class where they would have competed against the dominant Land Cruiser of Toyota Auto Body. Although the team’s #706 Land Cruiser that Nicola Feryn and Kurt Keysers were to pilot in the Dakar Classic was accepted, they withdrew in solidarity.
The team described the ruling as “no less than a firm slap in the face” to the crew, especially as an inspection by the Amaury Sport Organisation in September had approved the vehicles.
“Our Toyotas are oldies by rally standards,” said Wauters. “Every year, even every month, there are always new developments. To get a good picture of whether our cars would be in accordance with the regulations, we requested a pre-inspection from organiser ASO a few months ago. In September, an inspector from ASO came to our workshop. After a thorough inspection, he confirmed that our cars were in compliance with the regulations, so the final preparations were started and the final test work could begin.
“The Dakar, organised by ASO, is part of the world championship and so the FIA inspectors have the last word. We came across one inspector who stubbornly brushed aside all our arguments and the ASO pre-inspection. We were given forty-eight hours to adapt our safety cage to the FIA regulations. After two days of working almost day and night, we offered ourselves again on Wednesday to get a final ‘non’.
“Nobody had seen this coming, especially after ASO confirmed that the cars were okay. The car of Nicola Feryn and Kurt Keysers was admitted to the Dakar Classic. But we thank you for that. Out together, home together. We are and we will remain Dakarists, that’s for sure. We’ll see what the future brings. The book Koen in Dakar will be presented soon. We were banned from starting the Dakar 2023, but history cannot be taken away from us.”
The 2023 Dakar Rally, sans Feryn, begins on 31 December 2022.
