2012 WRC : Ford Sweeps WRC Podium After DQ

Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN), Citroën DS3 WRC, Citroën Total World Rally Team     

The result of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal was turned on its head shortly after Mikko Hirvonen began celebrating his first win for Citroen, when scrutineers found what they deemed to be illegal parts on his DS3.

As a result of the discovery, the Finn was thrown out of the results, handing a first WRC victory to Ford privateer Mads Ostberg and co-driver Jonas Andersson.

The official scrutineering report claimed that Hirvonen's clutch was 'not in conformity with the Homologation Form A5733', and that was not the only irregularity found during the usual post-event checks, although the stewards have decided to make further investigations to determine whether then #2 car's turbo also failed the regulations.

"The scrutineers found differences with both the clutch and the turbocharger," Citroen Racing technical director Xavier Mestelan-Pinon confirmed, as the French team confirnmed its intention to appeal the exclusion.

"The clutch mechanisms of the DS3 WRC are registered with lightening holes, but our supplier recently delivered a lot of these pieces without holes and one of them was mounted on the #2 car. The differences provide no performance gain, since they are heavier than those that were licensed.

"With regard to the turbo, which is a standard piece for all World Rally Cars, the extent of the turbine was reported to exceed the maximum allowed, but this measurement reflects the expansion of the turbine a result of temperatures and very high speeds."

The team's racing director, Yves Matton, claimed that the penalty handed down to Hirvonen, who finally had the chance to better wortld champion team-mate Sebastien Loeb, was out of proportion to the crime committed.

"Our intention was not to cheat and, given that the points raised [by the scrutineers] do not benefit us, we have decided to appeal their decision," he commented.

"I feel especially sorry for Mikko and [co-driver] Jarmo Lehtinen, who produced a perfect performance on a particularly difficult rally. They deserved this first victory with us and I can only apologise on behalf of the entire team. I hope that they will have the opportunity to get back on the top step of the podium very soon."

The surprising result also benefited Evgeny Novikov and Petter Solberg, who are promoted to second and third overall respectively, and has naturally reduced Citroen's advantage over its rivals in the two championships. Loeb remains at the head of the individual standings, but now enjoy a lead of just four points over Solberg, while Citroen's lead in the manufacturers' table is down to a dozen points over Ford.  

2012 WRC : Vodafone Rally de Portugal - Race rusult

Pos	No	Driver		Group Class	Stage Time	Penalties	Total Time	Diff Prev	Diff 1st
1	10	M. ØSTBERG		A0	4:21:16.1	0.0	4:21:16.1	0.0	0.0
2	6	E. NOVIKOV	M	A0	4:22:49.3	0.0	4:22:49.3	+1:33.2	+1:33.2
3	4	P. SOLBERG	M	A0	4:23:11.7	0.0	4:23:11.7	+22.4	+1:55.6
4	7	N. AL-ATTIYAH	M	A0	4:27:21.9	0.0	4:27:21.9	+4:10.2	+6:05.8
5	21	M. PROKOP		A0	4:27:05.3	20.0	4:27:25.3	+3.4	+6:09.2
6	18	D. KUIPERS		A0	4:28:03.4	0.0	4:28:03.4	+38.1	+6:47.3
7	15	S. OGIER		A0	4:28:25.1	0.0	4:28:25.1	+21.7	+7:09.0
8	8	T. NEUVILLE	M	A0	4:29:54.0	0.0	4:29:54.0	+1:28.9	+8:37.9
9	16	J. KETOMAA		A0	4:31:08.9	0.0	4:31:08.9	+1:14.9	+9:52.8
10	17	P. VAN MERKSTEIJN (JR)		A0	4:31:27.1	0.0	4:31:27.1	+18.2	+10:11.0
11	37	D. SORDO		A0	4:33:39.8	0.0	4:33:39.8	+2:12.7	+12:23.7
12	9	D. OLIVEIRA	M	A0	4:36:18.4	0.0	4:36:18.4	+2:38.6	+15:02.3
13	3	J. LATVALA	M	A0	4:38:18.7	0.0	4:38:18.7	+2:00.3	+17:02.6
14	5	O. TÄNAK	M	A0	4:36:41.2	1:50.0	4:38:31.2	+12.5	+17:15.1
15	12	A. ARAÚJO		A0	4:42:20.0	0.0	4:42:20.0	+3:48.8	+21:03.9
16	31	H. PADDON	S	A0	4:49:41.2	0.0	4:49:41.2	+7:21.2	+28:25.1
17	35	M. OLEKSOWICZ	S	A0	4:54:43.5	0.0	4:54:43.5	+5:02.3	+33:27.4
18	49	P. MEIRELES	S	A0	4:58:31.5	0.0	4:58:31.5	+3:48.0	+37:15.4
19	60	Y. PROTASOV		A0	5:03:26.8	0.0	5:03:26.8	+4:55.3	+42:10.7
20	58	A. NEIKSANS		A0	5:02:46.8	7:10.0	5:09:56.8	+6:30.0	+48:40.7
21	63	S. PÄRN		A0	5:12:04.8	0.0	5:12:04.8	+2:08.0	+50:48.7
22	62	M. BARBOSA		A0	5:11:20.1	2:30.0	5:13:50.1	+1:45.3	+52:34.0
23	56	F. FRISIERO		A0	5:30:24.4	0.0	5:30:24.4	+16:34.3	+1:09:08.3
24	69	I. COMINELLI		A0	5:39:03.8	0.0	5:39:03.8	+8:39.4	+1:17:47.7
25	66	S. CHARDONNET		A0	5:40:46.1	1:10.0	5:41:56.1	+2:52.3	+1:20:40.0
26	59	R. TRIVINO		A0	5:42:26.7	0.0	5:42:26.7	+30.6	+1:21:10.6
27	67	I. NOGUEIRA		A0	5:52:00.3	0.0	5:52:00.3	+9:33.6	+1:30:44.2
28	65	J. RAMOS		A0	5:54:21.8	0.0	5:54:21.8	+2:21.5	+1:33:05.7
29	61	R. SUNGKAR		A0	6:30:07.6	7:20.0	6:37:27.6	+43:05.8	+2:16:11.5
30	70	P. SEMERARO		A0	6:43:36.5	30.0	6:44:06.5	+6:38.9	+2:22:50.4

2012 WRC : Drivers' Championship Standings

Pos	Driver		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	Total
1.		Sebastien Loeb	28	11	27	0										66
2.		Petter Solberg	15	14	18	15										62
3.		Mads Ostberg		15	13	25										53
4.		Mikko Hirvonen	14	18	18	0										50
5.		Evgeny Novikov	11	10	0	18										39
6.		Jari-Matti Latvala	0	26	0	2										28
7.		Dani Sordo	18	0		3										21
8.		Nasser Al-Attiyah		0	8	12										20
9.		Ott Tanak	4	0	10	1										15
10.		Martin Prokop	2	2		10										10
11.		Sebastien Ogier	0	0	4	6										10
12.		Francois Delecour	8													8
13.		Dennis Kuipers				8										8
14.		Armindo Araujo	1	0	6	0										7
15.		Henning Solberg	0	6												6
16.		Pierre Campana	6													6
17.		Patrik Sandell		4		0										4
18.		Thierry Neuville	0	0	0	4										4
19.		Ken Block			2											2
20.		Jari Ketomaa				2										2
21.		Eyvind Brynildsen		1												1
22.		Ricardo Trivino			1	0										1
23.		Peter van Merksteijn Jr				1										1

2012 WRC : Manufacturers' Championship Standings

Pos	TEAM		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	Total
1.		Citroen Total World Rally Team	37	28	43	0										108
2.		Ford World Rally Team	15	40	15	26										96
3.		M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	16	12	10	31										69
4.		Qatar World Rally Team		8	8	15										31
5.		MINI WRC Team	26													26
6.		Citroen Junior World Rally Team			6	12										18
7.		Adapta World Rally Team			12											12
8.		Brazil World Rally Team				10										10

[Source : WRC, CRASH]