Stewards reject Solberg protest, Rossel retains WRC2 Chile victory

Yohan Rossel has been officially declared the WRC2 winner at the Rally Chile after stewards rejected a protest from Oliver Solberg.

WRC2 title contender Solberg lodged a protest asking the stewards to re-evaluate an imaginary time awarded to Rossel which helped the Citroen driver to victory on Sunday.

Rossel jumped from third to the lead in the WRC2 class when stewards ruled that Solberg had impeded the Frenchman on stage 11 and subsequently shaved 40 seconds off his stage time.

Solberg was leading the class in the test when he suffered a puncture, costing the Swede 1.30 minutes to change a wheel. Solberg rejoined the stage ahead of Rossel, who felt he had been held up by the Skoda driver as he powered through the stage through dense fog.

The incident will likely play a role in determining the outcome of the WR2 title, as Solberg could have secured the championship with a win in Chile. Solberg ultimately finished fourth in class, 26.1 seconds behind Rossel, after winning all four of Sunday’s stages.

Solberg felt he was not holding back his title rival and while hearing before the stewards he said: “I have seen his (Rossel’s onboard) video and I have seen my own video and I have not hindered him in any way and there too There was so much fog and rain that there was no dust, so I don’t really know why he was complaining.”

Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Toksport WRT Skoda Fabia Evo Rally2

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

However, Stewards deemed Solberg’s protest inadmissible “because under the FIA ​​International Sporting Code it is not permitted for the Stewards to review/rehear their decisions through a protest.”

“The protest, as clarified and confirmed by the protester at the hearing, aims to reopen the Stewards’ decision, present further evidence from the protester and then call on the Stewards to make a new decision on the same issue. “Under the FIA ​​International Sporting Code, the Stewards are not permitted to review/rehear their decisions by means of a protest,” the stewards’ report said.

“Additionally, the protester has given notice of his intention to appeal Stewards’ Decision No. 5. As such, that decision is now subject to review and determination by a higher court (namely the International Court of Appeal) and thus the subject matter (i.e. issues relating to Stewards Decision No. 5) are no longer within the jurisdiction of the judicial jurisdiction of this current panel.

“The Stewards conclude that the protest is inadmissible and is likely the improper legal process that the participant should have undertaken.”

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 after completing his seven points-scoring events.

Rossel and Sami Pajari (15 points behind Solberg) remain in contention for the title as the pair will complete their final rounds in the Central European Rally and Rally Japan respectively.

“We will never give up. It’s very bitter right now. I’m a bit emotional now because I wanted to win it and now it’s difficult. It’s been such a good year and it’s everything I ever dreamed of,” said an emotional Solberg after the rally.

“It’s not over yet, but it’s a bit difficult right now because the dream was to win this weekend and it looked really good and it felt really good.

“The plan was to ride slowly on Friday and Saturday to just be there on Sunday, because I knew Sunday wouldn’t be a problem. It was the plan and it almost worked.”