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Their intent might not be malicious, but EnergyLandia Taurus Factory Team has a bad track record with the Moroccan environment now. On Thursday, the FIA fined the team €15,000 (€10,000 of which is suspended until the end of 2025 provided no repeat offenses) for dumping waste water into the desert during the Rallye du Maroc.
Mohand Abdelmoula, an assistant to FIA technical delegate Christophe Vely, reported the team to the stewards after noticing two crew members pouring a dark liquid from a barrel into the ground twice. From a distance and in photographs taken of the act, the liquid appeared to be oil.
Upon being summoned along with an interpreter, one of the implicated personnel clarified it was actually waste water from the team’s camper being poured out from old fuel storage barrels. He added he had done so thrice, figuring that it would not be harmful since it was just water.
Despite his defence, the FIA ruled he and his fellow crewman “acted extremely. Even if the barrels in question were previously used to store fuel rather than oil, this does not negate the fact that petroleum products have polluted the environment. The behavior of the team members caused great damage to nature. Of course, it has caused enormous damage to the entire motorsport community, including, but not limited to, the organiser of the event Rally du Maroc, W2RC (World Rally-Raid Championship) promoter and FIA.
“The FIA is making a huge effort to ensure that the motorsport community is as involved as much as possible in the promotion of nature conservation and responsible behavior in order to contribute to the promotion of green policies. The FIA representatives responsible for environmental policy were also present at the Rallye du Maroc 2024. This is further proof of the special attention paid to the environment. Such behavior of the team members showed extreme disrespect for the FIA’s goals.”
Although the stewards accepted the team’s apology afterwards, they elected to hand down a “significant fine” since it was not the first time an EnergyLandia Rally Team member was caught doing an environmentally damaging act regardless of intent. Even then, two-thirds of the fine will not be applied until 31 December 2025 “in the hope that the competitor will in fact draw the appropriate conclusions and stop committing future infringements.”
During the second stage of the 2023 Rallye du Maroc, driver Eryk Goczał and co-driver Oriol Mena were reprimanded by the FIA for lighting a fire to signal for help while stranded in the desert after their car broke down. While the fire was put out once their crew arrived, starting one is illegal under Moroccan law because of the risk of wildfire. Goczał also donated €5,000 to the Moroccan chapter of the United Nations World Food Programme.
With one stage remaining, EnergyLandia Taurus Factory Team currently leads the 2024 race in the Challenger category courtesy of Goczał. His father Marek Goczał is third while uncle Michał Goczał retired from Thursday’s leg, ironically because of a fire extinguisher malfunction.