Oliver Solberg has confirmed to DirtFish that he and the Toksport are planning to appeal Yohan Rossel’s notional time for SS11 at Rally Chile – a protest that could cost the Frenchman victory and improve Solberg’s WRC2 title chances.
Solberg arrived in Chile knowing that victory in WRC2 would assure him of this year’s championship title. But just after taking the lead, the Škoda driver collected a slow puncture on SS11 and lost a minute and a half as he stopped to change it.
While he still leads the championship after finishing fourth in Chile, his WRC2 season is now over having completed the maximum permitted number of points-scoring rallies. That gives both Rossel and Sami Pajari, who have one rally remaining to contest each, a strong chance of winning the championship.
But the situation may change, as Solberg is unhappy with the notional time Rossel received for SS11 – the stage Solberg picked up his puncture.
Rossel had requested an adjusted time from the clerk of the course after Solberg had resumed the stage just ahead of him, and he felt he was left in his dust. But to make matters more complicated, visibility on the stage was already low due to thick fog – with Rossel running wide and momentarily coming to a stop at one point.
Rossel’s request for an adjusted time was however granted, and his stage time was improved by 40 seconds.
Solberg made his displeasure at that decision known at the end of SS15 when he said Rossel “should not be where he is” on the leaderboard – suggesting that he had been given too much time back.
Asked by DirtFish if there was going to be an appeal, Solberg said: “100%.”
He added: “I mean there was no dust when it’s wet and obviously I pulled away from him pretty quick in the fog. So, you know, I think he is more concerned that he was very slow in the fog and tried to make an excuse for it, I guess.”
Rossel meanwhile argued that the time he had been given was “not too much”.
He told DirtFish: “It depends on what do you think? When you come back just behind the car and you break into the dust, you can’t take all decisions. During two years ago, you had all the time.
“It’s impossible for the security to drive at 20 meters into the car, and on the fog, with the dust, if you don’t have the time. And for me, it’s not too much.
“Because when you see the time on other stages, on fog, I always beat Gryazin and Gus. Yeah, I think I deserve my victory. I didn’t make any mistake this weekend.
“In the past, in Sardinia, in Greece, I am the fastest. But I did a puncture and we don’t win the rally. Sometimes you need to win for sure, but with a puncture you cannot win.”
