Yohan Rossel has been officially declared the winner of WRC2 at Rally Chile after stewards rejected a protest from Oliver Solberg.
WRC2 title contender Solberg lodged a protest asking the stewards to re-evaluate a notional time awarded to Rossel that helped the Citroen driver to victory on Sunday.
Rossel vaulted from third to WRC2 class lead when stewards deemed Solberg had hindered the Frenchman during stage 11 and subsequently knocked 40s off his 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 stage affected by thick fog.
The incident is likely to play a part in determining the outcome WR2 title as Solberg could have secured the championship with a victory in Chile. Solberg eventually finished fourth in class, 26.1s behind Rossel after winning all four of Sunday’s stages.
Solberg felt he didn’t hold up his title rival and speaking before the stewards hearing he said: “I have seen his [Rossel’s onboard] video and I have seen my own video and I didn’t hinder him in any way and also there was so much fog and it was raining that there was no dust either so I don’t really know why he complained.”
However, stewards deemed Solberg's protest inadmissible “because under the FIA International Sporting Code, it is not permissible for the Stewards to review/re-hear their decisions through a protest.”
“The Protest, as clarified and confirmed by the Protester in the hearing, seeks to reopen a Stewards’ decision, to present further evidence by the Protester and then call for the Stewards to make a new decision about the same subject matter. Under the FIA International Sporting Code, it is not permissible for the Stewards to review/re-hear their decisions through a protest,” read the stewards report.
“Moreover, the Protester has given notice of an intention to appeal against Stewards Decision No. 5. As such that decision is now subject to a review and determination by a higher court (namely the International Court of Appeal) and thus the subject (i.e. matters relating to Stewards Decision No. 5) no longer fall within the remit of this current panel’s judicial jurisdiction.
“The Stewards conclude that the protest is inadmissible and likely the incorrect judicial process that the Competitor should undertake.”
Solberg leaves Chile with a 12-point lead over Rossel in the WRC2 standings but will now have to rely on results elsewhere to keep his title hopes alive having completed his seven points-scoring events.
Rossel and Sami Pajari (15 points adrift of Solberg) remain in title contention with the pair set to complete their final rounds at the Central European Rally and Rally Japan respectively.
“We will never give up. It is very bitter at the moment I’m bit emotional now because I wanted to win it and now it is difficult. It has been such good year and it is all I ever dreamed about," said an emotional Solberg after completing the rally.
“It is not over but straight away now it is bit hard because the dream was to win it this weekend and it looked very good and it felt very good.
“The plan was to drive slow Friday and Saturday to just be there for Sunday because I knew Sunday would be no problem. It was the plan and it almost worked.”
