Win torn from Meeke after part ruled illegal

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 23:00

FIVE days after he was drenched in champagne and torrential rain as he celebrated on the Esplanade of Stirling Castle, Dungannon's Kris Meeke has been excluded from the results of the inaugural RallyScotland.

Hours after 30-year-old Meeke and the thousands of spectators had celebrated what had been believed as being the result of the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge at the weekend, the Irishman's Peugeot was found to have a suspect part which was underweight.

Immediately the result of the rally, which had been lauded as a terrific success by competitors and spectators, was thrown into doubt.

The questionable part, the front subframe of his Peugeot 207 S2000, was subsequently weighed three times. Each time, a different weight was registered.

In the end, the rally's chief scrutineer ordered that the part be weighed at a Government Weights & Measures Office.

The result, announced yesterday, confirmed the part was below the minimum weight of 9.68kg and outside of the -2 per cent permissible margin.

As a result, Meeke and his Peugeot were excluded from the results, handing the victory to the Skoda of Darlington's Guy Wilks. Lanark's Alister McRae was promoted to second in his Proton, with Belfast's Jonny Greer third.

Meeke's exclusion though does not affect his or Peugeot's IRC titles as these were sealed on the penultimate round in Italy.

"After due deliberation the stewards noted that Peugeot UK and Peugeot Sport admitted lack of control in the manufacture of this subframe," the official statement read. "The stewards also recognised there was no fraudulent intent on behalf of the entrant or manufacturer."

A Peugeot spokesman said: "Of course it's unfortunate, but we fully accept the stewards' decision." Crucially, so marginal was the weight difference that it would not have improved the performance of the car.

"It's a terrific result for us," a Skoda spokeswoman said, "but in many ways it feels a bit flat."