The WRC2 title fight could take a distinct turn after it was confirmed that a previously rejected protest by Oliver Solberg's Toksport Skoda team can be heard by Rally Chile stewards.
A petition led by FIA road sport director Andrew Wheatley has led to a review of the case regarding the allocation of a hypothetical time to Solberg's title rival and WRC2 Chile Rally winner Yohan Rossel.
The Solberg-based Toksport Skoda team lodged a protest, asking the stewards to reassess the fictional time awarded to Rossel, who helped the Citroen driver to victory. Rossel jumped from third place to the lead within the WRC2 class when stewards ruled that Solberg had obstructed the Frenchman on stage 11 and subsequently lost 40 seconds of his stage time.
Solberg was leading the category within the test when he suffered a puncture that cost the Swede 1.30 seconds to alter a wheel. Solberg returned to the stage ahead of Rossel, who felt he was stopped by a Skoda driver while passing through the stage shrouded in thick fog.
The incident is more likely to play a job in deciding the end result of the WRC2 title race, as Solberg could have secured the championship with victory in Chile.
The stewards initially deemed the protest inadmissible “because under the FIA ​​International Sporting Code it is unacceptable for stewards to review/reconsider their decisions by way of protest.”
However, a subsequent stewards' report published on Friday said it was a “significant and significant new element that was unavailable to parties requesting a review at the time the relevant decision was made.”
Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Toksport WRT Skoda Fabia Evo Rally2
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
The case shall be reopened and heard at a date yet to be announced.
“The stewards reviewed video evidence and GPS tracking data provided by the FIA, which information was not within the possession of the Race Director or Stewards on the time the choice was made. Stewards consider this to be recent information,” the stewards' report reads.
“The FIA ​​explained the importance of the videos and GPS tracking data and indicated that if this information had been available at the time of receiving the request from the competitor of car No. 21 for a new time, then the performance would have been different. submitted to the Stewards in connection with the Competitor's request for SS11 (Flight 2). The stewards consider the FIA ​​entry to be significant and relevant.
“After careful consideration of the matter, the Stewards determine to reconsider their decision in accordance with Article 14.1.1 of the 2024 FIA International Sporting Code and need to listen to the views of the parties concerned, namely the Competitor of Car No. 21 and the representative of the FIA, at a time and place to be later determined “
Solberg currently leads the WRC2 championship standings by 12 points over Rossel, but will now need to depend on results elsewhere to maintain his title hopes alive after completing seven points-scoring races.
Rossel and Sami Pajari (15 points behind Solberg) are still fighting for the title, with each set to finish their final rounds within the Rally Central and Eastern Europe and Rally Japan respectively.
