Robert Kolcak, a driver in the European Rally Championship, has been disqualified from an event for making inappropriate gestures and comments to a female scrutineer.
The incident took place during a standard safety equipment inspection after the stop control of special stage six of the Royal Rally of Scandinavia.
Kolcak, last year’s Slovakian Rally2 champion, and driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car for the Chooligan Racing Team, was reported by the Clerk of the Course to the stewards for his words and actions.
The stewards’ report read that Kolcak, “made inappropriate comments towards the scrutineer who was performing her duties, asking her whether she wanted to see his genitals, and then he proceeded to grab his genitals area in front of the scrutineers”.
During a hearing, Kolcak confirmed his comments and behaviour. He stated that his reaction “was due to the adrenaline following the stage and that he did not know the woman was an official of the event.
“He also stated that his reaction was due to the way the scrutineer was trying to check his safety clothing. The comment made by the driver was explicitly offensive in nature and directed towards an official while she was carrying out her duties on behalf of the event.
“The subsequent gesture made by the driver further aggravated the seriousness of the incident.
“The stewards emphasise that all event officials are entitled to carry out their functions in an environment free from abuse, intimidation, harassment, or degrading behaviour.
“Therefore, any explanation, such as the heat of the moment, cannot be accepted as mitigating the behaviour observed.
“Furthermore, the incident occurred after passing the Stop Control of the stage, during a usual and normal procedure, by officials of the event, clearly identifiable by a black tabard.
“The stewards also consider it significant that the behaviour was directed specifically towards a female scrutineer in the performance of her role.
“Such conduct is not only disrespectful towards the individual concerned, but the fact that these remarks were addressed to a female official performing her duties is considered particularly serious.”
The stewards concluded that, due to “the seriousness of the behaviour and to reinforce that such conduct towards officials will not be accepted”, Kolcak be disqualified.
In an Instagram post, Kolcak tried to explain his behaviour, claiming that during the inspection of his ‘homologated underwear’, “as a joke, I asked a single sentence, ‘You also want to see my balls?’. The commissioner and I both laughed about it. She replied with a smile that only underwear is enough.”
Kolcak felt the incident was then blown up into “a gigantic exemplary scandal called sexual assault, and [that] despite the fact that the commissioner in question understood the joke and laughed at it herself, the management of the competition saw it differently, and the joke cost us DISQUALIFICATION.”
Kolcak later apologised in his post and said that he did not mean to cause “inappropriate trauma” by his “badly formulated question”.
