At their latest virtual meeting on Thursday, the FIA World Motor Sport Council agreed upon various rule changes centered around sustainable energy. On the cross-country rally side, they and the Cross-Country Rally Commission agreed to centralize where the Challenger and SSV classes can get their gas.

“As a cost-saving measure, competitors entered with Challenger or SSV vehicles must obtain their fuel either from the central fuel distribution arranged by the organizer where one exists, or from commercial filling stations specified in the supplementary regulations of the rally,” explained the federation.

Article 54 of the Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations outlines the refueling policies. All competitors are to add gas to their cars in designated refuel areas, which can include specialized service zones or commercial gas stations. The latter can be accessed if marked as such in the roadbook, during which a team member can pay the station for the gas but must stay away from the car.

Under Article 55, T3 and T4 cars differ from their counterparts in Ultimate, Stock, and Truck in that they get their own separate refuel zone. This is partly because the two categories are UTVs as opposed to their larger and more powerful cousins and rely on different.

Article 55 proclaims:

55.1: General

Exclusively for Challenger and SSV vehicles, a refuelling zone may be placed by the organiser along the itinerary to allow Challenger and SSV vehicles to refuel within a range of 250 km. These refuelling zones are indicated in the road book and published in the itinerary.

Stopping at the official remote refuelling zones (neutralisation zone) in a Selective Section is compulsory for all Challenger and SSV competitors, regardless of whether they use the refuelling facilities.

Any crew which does not follow these refuelling regulations will receive a penalty as per Appendix I, in addition to the fixed neutralisation time stipulated in the Supplementary Regulations (minimum 20 minutes).

55.2: Procedure

The following procedures will apply on the official remote refuelling zones for Challenger and SSV vehicles:

• the crew must be outside the vehicle during refuelling;
• while at the refuelling point, only actions directly involved in the refuelling of the competing vehicle are permitted;
• after refuelling, the vehicle must immediately be removed from the refuelling point;
• after refuelling, no intervention on the vehicle is allowed,
• no team personnel are allowed in the RZ;
• the crew alone will be responsible for the refuelling operation;
• the organiser will provide the fuel, the pump fitted with two female couplings (Stäubli SPT12 type), the container for degassing fuel and an adequate firefighting service;
• the organiser will provide the environmental mats.

The start of the following part of the Selective Section will be given according to Art. 45.2.

Featured image credit: Frédéric Le Floch / ASO