TMC attended the FIA’s Court of Appeal on Wednesday 7 May to present evidence supporting its appeal against the exclusion from the race results of Magny Cours two weeks ago of the winning car of drivers Kelvin Burt and Darren Turner.  However, after due consideration, the Court of Appeal found in favour of the Stewards and car number 89’s exclusion remains in force.  During the proceedings, the team was reassured that its integrity was never in doubt and was applauded for the thoroughness of the evidence produced during the hearing.  The argument in question concerned the capacity of car 89’s fuel tank; Appendix J – Article 257/6.5.1 of the FIA’s Technical Regulations states that that the maximum capacity of an entrant’s fuel system must not exceed 100 litres with a permissible tolerance of 0.5%.  After post-race scruntineering, when car 89’s fuel bladder tanks including the tanks’ inner foam had been removed and dried, all capacity spheres removed, measured and replaced, and all other ancillary fuel elements drained completely, the car’s maximum fuel capacity during the race was deemed to have been 100.88 litres.  

As a result of the enforcement of the exclusion, TMC’s car 88 is now promoted to race winner and earns drivers Jamie Davies and Tim Mullen 10 points each towards the Championship.  TMC also now lead the Team Championship ahead of round three in Enna with 24 points in total. 

“Naturally, we are disappointed with the (FIA) Court of Appeal’s ruling but respect their judgment and decision,” commented Rod Benoist, TMC’s Team Manager.  “However, we demonstrated our thoroughness to the judges and how committed we are to the Championship.  We now look forward to a demanding race in Sicily this weekend (10/11 May).”