Frenchman Yohan Rossel claimed victory in the WRC2 class in Chile, maintaining his chances for the title. However, after the event, WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg lodged a protest against the time credit awarded to Rossel, which the stewards initially dismissed.
Rossel had been granted a 40-second time credit because Solberg, after changing a tyre, rejoined the stage ahead of the Frenchman. Solberg believed Rossel was given too much of an advantage and requested the stewards to reassess Rossel’s corrected time. However, the stewards stated that they could not reconsider their own decisions through a protest.
Now, the case has taken an unexpected turn. On Friday, the stewards released a decision revealing that Andrew Wheatley, the FIA Road Sport Director, has introduced new evidence related to the incident.
“There is a significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned,” the stewards’ decision states.
The FIA has provided the stewards with video footage and GPS tracking data, which has prompted the case to be reopened.
“The FIA explained the relevance of the videos and the GPS tracking data and indicated that if this information had been available at the time the request from the Competitor of Car No. 21 (Rossel) for a new time was received, then a different representation would have been made to the Stewards in relation to the Competitor’s request on SS11 (Lota 2). The Stewards consider the FIA’s submission to be significant and relevant,” the decision continues.
The stewards will hear from the parties involved – Rossel and a representative from the FIA – at a later, yet-to-be-determined date.
It seems likely that Rossel’s time may be adjusted. If this happens, he could potentially lose his WRC2 victory, as Nikolay Gryazin (+17.3), Gus Greensmith (+20.7), and Solberg (+26.1) were not far behind the Frenchman.
Should Rossel be stripped of the win, he would no longer have a chance at the WRC2 title. In that case, Sami Pajari would be Solberg’s only real challenger in the fight for the WRC2 championship.
Solberg has already competed in all of his WRC2 points events for this season. Rossel will contest his final points race next week at the Central European Rally, while Pajari’s last points event will be the Rally Japan in November.
