Volkswagen: “We are going to appeal”

Volkswagen’s protest on Rickard Rydell in the STCC final yesterday was rejected by the stewards at Mantorp Park.
“We know that we are right and we are going to appeal with 99.9 percent probability,” said team boss Tommy Kristoffersson to na.se.

The protest was filed over that Rickard Rydell had overtaken Volkswagen driver Thed Björk under yellow flags.
“It is very clear on the images from Viasat Sport that I have seen. It was yellow lights as Rickard Rydell, as one of three-four drivers, passed Thed Björk at the end of the race. Several drivers confirm it, among them Jan “Flash” Nilsson. When that happened, Fredrik Ekblom was champion, so it was in a decisive stage of the race,” said Kristoffersson.

The stewards worked on the subject for several hours yesterday evening, interviewing Rydell and Björk, as well as watching the images from the live broadcast of Viasat Sport.
“The stewards only looked at the images available during the broadcast. But I have seen unpublished images that clearly show that Rydell passes under yellow flags. And the images are here as evidence,” said Kristoffersson.

Ekblom was devastated after losing the championship lead and the title in the very last round of the STCC 2011 and commented the matter:
“If it is like Thed says, it is really bad. That was the first thing that I learned when I was ten-twelve years old and started driving Go-Karts, that you are not allowed to pass under yellow flags. It is not a small offense. It is strange that the stewards can’t make an assessment straight away,” said Ekblom.

Chevrolet also filed a protest on an incident between Ekblom and Michel Nykjaer, a protest also rejected but without the possibility to appeal it.