The Sporting Stewards of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal published last Thursday, April 26, the decision number 9, confirming the penalty of exclusion of Mikko Hirvonen and also the non compliance of the turbine wheel of the turbo. This is the complete text of the decision:
«With Reference to Rally Portugal Stewards Decision N. 8. Point 2: Having received the report from the FIA Technical Delegate on the results of the further technical inspection of the Turbo unit (turbine wheel) and the measuring instrument, and further, having received advice from the manufacturer of the turbo unit in relation to its manufacturing process, the stewards decide;
To confirm the penalty of Exclusion of Car n. 2 from the results of Rally Portugal, including all stage times, for technical non compliance.
In reaching this decision the stewards noted the report from the technical delegate which identified that the test instrument complied with the measurements given and the turbine wheel exceeded the specified dimensions. The letter from the manufacturer of the Turbo unit and its associated parts in which they identified that each part in individually tested during the manufacturing process.
The Stewards confirmed that a competing car is required to comply with the homologation papers and in this case there were two aspects being the clutch plate and the turbine wheel in which it failed to meet this requirement.»