FIA rules: Hirvonen's turbo illegal in Portugal too

The FIA has announced that not only the clutch, but also the turbo fitted to Mikko Hirvonen's Citroen DS3 WRC in Portugal was illegal.

Hirvonen had won the event in Portugal, but after the finish he was excluded when it was ruled the clutch was 'not in conformity with the Homologation Form A5733'. Post-race checks also discovered an irregularity with the turbo, but further investigations were ordered. Those findings have now come through, with a statement issued today, confirming that the turbo was also in contravention.

The full FIA statement read:

With reference to Rally Portugal, Stewards Decision No. 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 number two from the results of the Rally of 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 that 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 is individually tested during the manufacturing process.

The stewards confirm 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.

Citroen has already announced that it will not appeal the exclusion [see separate story - HERE].