Citroën Racing has decided that it will not appeal to the FIA's International Court of Appeals against the exclusion of the winner of the Rally de Portugal, Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen, who was penalized by the FIA's commissaires' college for having a non-regulated clutch.
After initially announcing that it would appeal the decision that led the French brand's driver to lose the victory, in favor of Mads Ostberg (Ford Fiesta WRC), Citroën has now announced "further analysis of the matter has not uncovered new technical elements" , so it was decided to abandon the appeal.
According to a statement published on Mikko Hirvonen's official website, “after being notified of the decision to exclude the DS3 WRC nº2 from Rally de Portugal, the Citroën Total World Rally Team had, within the one hour period stipulated by the regulations, announced the its intention to appeal the decision to the FIA International Court of Appeals. The team then had another 48 hours to confirm its decision to appeal or to decide not to do so”.
"As further analysis of the matter and discussions with experts did not uncover any new technical elements that could be used to change the severe penalty given by the Commissioners, Citroën decided not to pursue what would be a long and costly procedure."
Yves Matton, director of the Citroën Racing Team, explained that the announcement of the intention to appeal was intended to "give us time to look into the matter in more detail". "Our supplier sent us an apology letter, admitting the existence of a series of parts that were different from those in the approval documentation." This letter, continues the head of the team, "confirms that it was never our intention to cheat."
“We accept the severe penalty but we are determined to learn the lessons and ensure that we will be even better in the future. We still lead both World Championships, but the advantage has been reduced. Now we go to future rallies even more determined to return to the paths of victory».
Mikko Hirvonen, for his part, admits that he is “obviously”, “very disappointed, but I am not disturbed. These things happen. We have to accept them, learn the necessary lessons and get back on track. Citroën has done a lot for me in recent months, so I remain united with the team in this difficult time. We won together and we lost together! This incident just makes me more determined. I can't even wait to start the next rally and start racing again».
Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen (Citroen DS 3 WRC) had been disqualified from the Vodafone Rally de Portugal on Sunday, after having finished the race in first place at the end of the 22 qualifying rounds.
The decision of the Sport Stewards came after the report presented by the Technical Stewards that detected situations that did not comply with the approval form of the Citroen DS 3 WRC.
Based on this decision, a new ranking was published, in which Mads Ostberg and Jonas Andersson (Ford Fiesta WRC) were declared winners.
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