Portuguese driver Armindo Araujo has had his Production Car World Rally Championship title confirmed after an appeal from the Barwa Rally Team against its Acropolis Rally disqualification resulted in Nasser Al-Attiyah being dropped to last place in the classification.
Barwa driver Nasser Al-Attiyah originally finished second in the P-WRC element of June's Acropolis Rally, but was later excluded from the results after it was deemed the crankshaft on his Subaru Impreza WRX did not conform with the regulations. Al-Attiyah is now listed as a finisher in last place, which means he collects no points from the event.
An appeal was subsequently lodged by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) on behalf of the Barwa team which runs Al-Attiyah's Subaru. That appeal was heard on Tuesday, with the FIA announcing the decision this evening.
The FIA's official release said: "The Court, after having heard the parties and examined their submissions, declared the appeal admissible and decided to: confirm the Contested Decision insofar as it finds that Article 254 of Appendix J to the International Sporting Code has been breached by the Appellant [Barwa Rally Team]; quash the Contested Decision insofar as it excludes the Appellant from the final classification of the Event; impose upon the Appellant a drop to the last place of the classification of the Event."
Araujo's score of 42 points cannot now be beaten, even though Al-Attiyah will tackle the final production round of the season, Rally GB, next week. The most the Qatar driver can score is 41 points.
Mitsubishi driver Araujo, who won the P-WRC title on last month's Rally Australia (pending Al-Attiyah's appeal), will compete in Wales, but will be ineligible for points, having already collected his six scores.