Lucas Del Rio has received a suspended disqualification and a 30-minute time penalty for Stage 3 of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid after he opened the sealed pouch containing his cell phone. However, it was also probably a stroke of horrendous timing on his part.

Article 9.1.3 of the FIA’s Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations states, “The use of mobile and satellite phones is forbidden during the Selective Sections. Phones must be switched off during the Selective Sections. In the event of a problem only, these phones may be used, only outside the passenger compartment, when the vehicle is stationary, to report a retirement, an accident or a breakdown. Beforehand, the Crew must inform the Rally HQ of their situation via the tracking system.”

The phone must be inside a pouch that is sealed shut by race officials before the start of the special.

Such a rule exists because phones can be used as an extra navigation device. For this reason, all wristwatches are also prohibited save for approved models.

Del Rio’s Taurus had broken down during Friday’s stage. Assuming he was out of the race, he broke the seal on the pouch and pulled his phone out to call his team to say he would retire. As luck would have it, the car was able to refire soon after and he continued the stage.

This penalty was a sore spot for the FIA during the 2025 Dakar Rally, with multiple drivers getting penalized for the same infraction.

Being a suspended DSQ means it will not be applied unless he does it again on either of the final two stages. Del Rio was already out of overall contention after failing to finish Stage 2. Before that, he had finished Stage 1 in fifth for Challenger.

Del Rio is the second driver to be punished by the FIA in Portugal. Yazeed Al-Rajhi received a suspended fine before the race for a damaged fuel cell label.

Featured image credit: Jennifer Lindini / ASO