Rally Chile stewards have dismissed an FIA petition to re-examine an allocated time that helped Yohan Rossel to WRC2 victory following a hearing at the Central European Rally.
Event stewards originally deemed that WRC2 championship leader Oliver Solberg had hindered Rossel during a fog-affected stage 11 (Lota 2) last month and subsequently knocked 40s from the latter’s stage time.
Solberg was leading the class in the test when he suffered a puncture which cost the Swede 1m30s to change a wheel. Solberg rejoined the stage ahead of Rossel, who felt he had been held up by the Skoda driver while passing through the stage affected by thick fog.
Solberg could have sealed the WRC2 title had he won in Chile, but ultimately finished the rally in fourth, while Rossel took the victory to boost his own title aspirations.
Solberg's Toksport team subsequently lodged a protest asking the stewards to re-evaluate a notional time awarded to Rossel, which was deemed inadmissible "because, under the FIA International Sporting Code, it is not permissible for the Stewards to review/re-hear their decisions through a protest.”
However, last week the case was re-opened following a petition led by FIA road sport director Andrew Wheatley that claimed to have new video information that wasn’t available at the time of the original hearing.
Following a hearing on Wednesday, the stewards have communicated that the petition has been dismissed and Rossel’s notional time will stand, meaning he will keep the victory.
“The FIA’s petition for the Stewards to re-examine the time allocated for Car No 21 on SS11 (Lota 2) is dismissed," read the stewards' report in part.
“Stewards’ Decision No. 5 remains in place, unaltered.
“The Stewards have considered this case extensively and thoroughly. In light of all the circumstances, the Stewards conclude that the reasonable safety measures taken by Car No. 21 (Rossel) justified correcting their time lost on SS11 by 40 seconds.
“The Stewards therefore stand by Stewards’ Decision No. 5 and choose not to change it. Considering any other notional time for Car No. 21 would involve conjecture and subjective facts to be assumed, especially now after the rally has ended."
It is possible to appeal the decision but any request to do so must be submitted within 12 hours of the publication of the decision.
A victory for Rossel in the WRC2 class at this weekend’s Central European Rally will end Solberg’s title hopes. However, Sami Pajari can still beat Rossel to the title if he finishes third or better at Rally Japan next month.
UPDATE: Reacting to the decision on Friday morning, Solberg said: "Karma is a bitch I guess. The FIA didn’t want to give him a penalty because they think it was dusty or whatever they think in their heads, I don’t know.
"Apparently it was dusty and apparently I was in the way. I think they have got to look at that again and maybe use some common sense and then we will see, it doesn’t matter for me so I will just have some fun here [at the Central European Rally] and that’s it.”
