The FIA cleared Janus van Kasteren of any wrongdoing following an investigation on Monday night into whether he had performed a dangerous overtake on Benjamin Favre.

During Stage 7, van Kasteren’s Century CR7 was coming up on Favre’s MMP T3; being an Ultimate vehicle, the CR7 is much faster than the MMP, which races in Challenger. Van Kasteren passed him on the left without using the Sentinel system to inform Favre of his intent to overtake. With no prior warning, Favre said the pass surprised him and his navigator Thibaud Darroux.

Once van Kasteren got by Favre, he moved in front of him since it was the optimal racing line. This kicked up rocks that shattered Favre’s windshield. He would finish the stage 18th in Challenger while van Kasteren was 61st in Ultimate.

Favre reported the incident to Jan Seinen and the FIA stewards, who summoned the involved parties on Monday. Officially, the investigation was done into Articles 12.2.1 (concerning the navigation system) and 27.1.1 (“Crews must always behave in a sporting manner.” of the FIA Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations.

Van Kasteren claimed he didn’t recall the encounter with Favre, but stressed he triggered the Sentinel multiple times during the stage. Either way, he added he was willing to pay the costs of damaging Favre’s windscreen. Likewise, Favre clarified he wasn’t seeking to get van Kasteren penalized but would like the situation addressed.

The Sentinel is used to notify the car in front that you would like to pass them, thereby getting them to yield if they are slower. However, the Sentinel is not required when overtaking as long as the pass is done safely and on an obviously slower vehicle. Tao Yongming received a one-hour penalty for Stage 2 when he didn’t use the Sentinel and rammed into the back of Challenger overall leader Pau Navarro as he tried to pass him.

ERTF, who makes the Sentinel system, found that van Kasteren had indeed made “several overtaking requests” in Stage 7 but did not when he was passing Favre. Even then, the stewards stressed “there is no article in the 2026 FIA CCRSR that makes it mandatory to submit an overtaking request when intending to overtake a slower competitor.”

As such, Seinen and his team “there is insufficient evidence that a breach of the above-mentioned articles has been committed and therefore decide to take no further action.”

Van Kasteren is making his Dakar debut in the Ultimate class after winning the 2023 race in Truck. Favre finished 13th in Challenger at the 2025 edition. After nine stages, van Kasteren sits 44th among Ultimate cars and Favre in 16th for Challengers.

Other penalties issued by Seinen and the stewards since the rest day include adding 40 seconds to Hunter Miller’s Stage 7 time because Jeremy Gray started to undo his seatbelts before their car had come to a stop. Seatbelts have been a recurring problem that Seinen has had to address this race.

Featured image credit: Eric Vargiolu / DPPI / ASO