When it comes to taking shortcuts, the chances are most of us have experimented with corner-cutting in a video game – and nine times out of ten, you’ll be penalized for doing so.

Of late, track limits have become another hotly contested subject in the world of Formula One. But when it comes to rallies, rarely do we see controversy about the route. In addition to stages generally being demarcated, your co-driver’s pace notes are set to keep you on course.

However, in this video filmed at the 2021 Andalucía Rally, the leader and eventual winner of the event appears to get very creative with his interpretation of the rules.

The clip shows the Toyota Hilux Overdrive of Nasser Al-Attiyah leaving the track, cutting through some foliage, and re-emerging on the other side, shortening his route by several meters and seconds. Worryingly, he appears to have emerged in close proximity to a group of spectators.

https://youtu.be/W3kgE8LEGCs

The clip was highlighted by veteran rally legend and former WRC champion Carlos Sainz, who finished second in the Spanish-set rally. In a statement issued via social media, Sainz calls out his fellow competitor’s actions as “unsportsmanlike.” He went on to say that Al-Attiyah’s actions potentially posed a risk to the future of the rally while stating the move threatened spectators and fellow competitors.

The Qatari driver, who is also a three-time Dakar rally winner, was handed a two-minute penalty for his actions but managed to retain his lead and subsequently won the rally. With so much time in hand, it begs the question as to why Al-Attiyah felt the need for his time-saving excursion into the undergrowth.

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After the penalty, the gap to second-placed Sainz was 43 seconds. Having missed out on the win by such a small margin, Sainz, who was driving a Mini John Cooper Works Rally, alluded that the punishment was not enough. He accused his rival of doing similar last year and stated that the penalty was “inconsistent with everything that we had discussed in our briefings with the organization.”

In a short reply to Sainz’s tweet, Al-Attiyah simply said “Hahahaha don’t be disappointed”. Moreover, he posted a video on his Twitter feed that supposedly shows Sainz doing the same, cutting across a field at an event in 2017.

The Andalucía Rally is in its second year and is part of the FIA’s Cross Country Rally World Cup. The Spanish rally featured 200-300 km of stages each day, with some two-wheelers using the event as a precursor to the Dakar rally.

H/T to Hisham S.