Source of Portugal penalties explainedIn the hours following the end of Rally Portugal, all Focus-model cars prepared and entered by M-Sport received five-minute penalties due to the irregular thickness of the rear windows.
During the post-race technical verifications,
stewards discovered that the rear windows of the Ford Focus cars did not possess the regulatory 3.5mm thickness. The glass having been measured at 3.1mm, penalties were issued to all concerned teams. While such a lack in weight could only have offered a very negligeable advantage, any swaying from the rules results in a penalty.
In the process of the marshall's decision, BP-Ford drivers Marcis Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen lost their second and third positions on the podium, falling to fifth and sixth positions. Gareth McHale also suffered the penalty, as did the three Stobart Team drivers : Jari-Matti Latvala, Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson.
Grönholm lost most than others as the championship lead slipped from his fingers in favour of Citroën's
Sebastien Loeb.
Following the sanction, M-Sport had immediately promised to investigate the reasons why the rear windows turned out to have less than the required thickness. The conclusions of their scrutiny have now been released.
According to the internal investigation, it appears that faulty material was delivered to M-Sport, with the problem remaining undetected by the supplier and the team itself.
A whole series of rear windows has now been replaced by panes that conform to the regulations.
Having accepted that the mistake should have been picked up, M-Sport assures that procedures have been put in place for a more vigilant verification process and to ensure that such an event fails to happen again.
M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson respects the penalties issued by the marshalls in Portugal. "It was disappointing that this problem arose, but we would like to emphasise that we believe the stewards treated us extremely fairly in their decision making," he declared.
That setback being solved, Wilson prefers to look ahead from this point on. "Now we want to focus our attentions on defending our lead in the manufacturers' championship and strengthening our position in the drivers' standings on the next round in Argentina next month," he concluded.
