Suzuki's Per-Gunnar Andersson has lost his appeal into his exclusion from the Rally of Turkey after a meeting of the FIA International Court of Appeal hearing in Paris – a decision that means the Junior World Rally Championship title battle will be decided this weekend in the Welsh forests.

A statement from motor sports governing body confirmed that the International Court of Appeal has backed the decision made by the stewards in Turkey - who claimed that a mechanic assisted the Swede with some work on his Swift S1600 in an area where service was not allowed.

The incident allegedly occurred on day two of the Rally of Turkey prior to the second running of the Akdeniz University super special. Although Andersson claimed that the evidence used was inconclusive, the ICA upheld the decision to strip him of the win - and therefore the battle for the Junior WRC title will go all the way to the wire this weekend on the Wales Rally GB, the final round in the 2006 FIA JWRC.

“The national scrutineer reported to the stewards that during the event car #35 had entered a light fitting zone and that team's mechanic had carried out works which were not permitted within that zone,” the statement read. “As a result, the panel of the stewards of the meeting excluded car #35 (team Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson) from the event.

“Having heard the explanations of both parties and having examined the various documents and other evidence, the Court confirmed the stewards' decision.”

Andersson, who learned of the decision while carrying out the recce for this weekend's event near Swansea, said the focus now was on a victory in Wales that wil secure the title.

"Now we will focus on Rally GB and try and win it," he said. "If we take the victory this weekend, we will ensure we are JWRC champions again."

The decision means that six drivers' could be in contention to take the JWRC crown this weekend, with Urmo Aava top of the pile with 30 points. Andersson is one point behind, in second place, while Patrik Sandell has 28 points and Britain's Guy Wilks has 26 points. Jozef Beres and Kris Meeke are also in contention, mathematically speaking - the latter having notched up 20 points.

The standings heading into the Wales Rally GB, after eight of the nine JWRC events, look like this:


Junior World Rally Championship (for drivers) (after 8 of 9 rounds) – Top ten:

1. Urmo Aava Suzuki Swift S1600 30 points
2. P-G Andersson Suzuki Swift S1600 29 points
3. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio S1600 28 points
4. Guy Wilks Suzuki Swift S1600 26 points
5. Conrad Rautenbach Renault Clio Super 1600 25 points##
6. Jozef Beres Suzuki Ignis S1600 22 points
7. Kris Meeke Citroen C2 Super 1600 20 points
8. Julien Pressac Citroen C2 Super 1600 19 points
9. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 18 points
10. Bernd Casier Renault Clio S1600 17 points


## Conrad Rautenbach is in action this weekend on the Rally GB, however it is not one of his six nominated JWRC events, and as such he can not add to his points total. He is taking in the event in a Group N Subaru Impreza as it is the final round of the 2006 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship. Rautenbach is currently in fifth place overall in the BRC standings.

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