Peugeot excluded from Cyprus Rally result

Zantetsuken

Zantetsuken

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Tadpole
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Press release from the official WRC website, www.wrc.com:

Peugeot excluded from Cyprus Rally result

Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb has been confirmed as the winner of the Cyprus Rally after the Peugeots of on-the-road winner Marcus Gronholm and fifth-placed Harri Rovanpera were excluded following further examination of the cars’ water pumps.

Both the French World Rally Championship teams’ results were declared provisional subject to further technical checks. Question marks were raised in the aftermath of the event when it was discovered that the water pumps in both the Peugeot 307 and Citroen Xsara differed, despite them both using the same XU7 engine. Teams are required by WRC regulations to use standard water pumps.

Citroen has subsequently been cleared of any technical infringement, but Peugeot was called to a further meeting of the event’s stewards today and has lost its manufacturers’ points after it was confirmed that its water pump did not conform to the rules.

An FIA statement said: “Further to a report from the FIA Technical Delegate regarding the water pumps in Marlboro Peugeot Total car No. 5 (Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen) and car No. 6 (Harri Rovanpera and Risto Pietilainen) and having considered the statements from the representatives of the competitor at a meeting held in the Paris headquarters of the FIA, the water pumps were not found to be in conformity with the Technical Regulations. The Stewards decided that Marlboro Peugeot Total car No. 5 and Marlboro Peugeot Total car No. 6 be excluded from the 2004 Cyprus Rally.”

Loeb now leads the WRC drivers’ championship with 35 points, while Ford’s Markko Martin is second with 34 points. Subaru’s Petter Solberg moves up to third with 28 points, just four points ahead of Gronholm in fourth. Ford continues to lead the manufacturers’ standings with 58 points from Citroen and Peugeot, while the French marques now have 54 and 33 points respectively and Subaru has 40.

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Quite a shock and a blow for the Peugeot team, I wonder whose idea the water pump thing was! Especially after all the jubilation and excitement of thinking they had won.

Cheers... Tim
 
From what I read somewhere, one teams water pumps were made from a plastic housing, and the other fabricated from metal, whereas they both use the same engine and are supposed to use the standard water pump.

I assume any benefits would either be in flow or durability characteristics.

Someone else might know a bit more about it, no real specifics beyond what I quoted have been released by the governing body of the WRC that have been published in my normal WRC circles.

Tim
 
how much difference would it make - i hear you ask. But remember that they were racing in Cyprus in 40+ degree heat. Any increase in flow would definitely aid performance...

despite being a Citroen fan, i was indeed happy to see Peugeot win and both frogs claw back at the ford lead.
 
XsaraVTS said:
how much difference would it make - i hear you ask. But remember that they were racing in Cyprus in 40+ degree heat. Any increase in flow would definitely aid performance... despite being a Citroen fan, i was indeed happy to see Peugeot win and both frogs claw back at the ford lead.
Click to expand...
Back to my orginal comment .... major dissapointment for Gronholm, the team knows the rules .. :nownow: :whip: :doh: :trouslap: :disappr:

- XTC206 -
 
It's almost unfair to penalise the drivers in this circumstance. Maybe a penalty on the team - docking manufacturers points and a fine? But why penalise the drivers for something that they have had no control over. I cant see Marcus head under the bonnet going - no no - make that out of plastic!
 
While it is unfair on the driver and everyone in the team who is not involved in the engineering of the car, the driver can't keep the result as the question is always raised, would he have finished in that position if the car was legal? Maybe, maybe not, we'll never know.

It's unfortunate for the team, but they are the consequences to pay.

I think it's ironic that team boss specifically asked Gronholm over the radio what he thought of the 307 WRC - I'd like to hear his updated view on that.

Also, Peugeot will not contest the decision made by the stewards and have announced their focus on the remaining 2004 rallies.

Tim
 
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bummer - it was good win for Pug. As for the result, I reckon it would have been just the same with a "legal" pump - the Cit wasnt overheating with it, and they run the same motor!!
 
Here's one for speculation: should it be determined if the team has been running an illegal pump all year, should all the points gained with the illegal parts be removed?

I personally say not, because the scrutineers haven't picked it up earlier if they have been running it all year and therefore not given the team a chance to change it for the remaining rounds, but it does leave a few questions as to if the pump made a difference and were other teams disadvantaged by it.

In such a close championship, losing those points has really hurt Peugeot who have struggled throughout the early parts of the year in the constructors, so unless they have a great change of form, I don't think they'll be able to come back from it as far as winning the whole thing.

I really look forward to the next rally and how the cars will go there, the Acropolis Rally is now claimed to be the toughest rally on the calendar since they stopped rallying in Africa. Same surface as Cyprus (gravel).

Cheers... Tim
 
Im about to go check this, but ive heard the only reason Peugeot got caught is because it is the first time Cit&Pug have finished on the podium together. And its usually only the top3 - top8 that are majorly stripped down to that degree.

but then again it could be the first time they used the wrong impeller.
 
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