Mikko Hirvonen Disqualified from Rally Portugal Win Due to Multiple Infractions

Mikko Hirvonen has been disqualified from his win at the Rally Portugal due to two technical infractions on his car both of which would exclude his win separately.

In post race scrutineering, officials found that the clutch on Hirvonen's Fiesta WRC car did not conform to series rules. The officials also found that the turbine in the turbo on Hirvonen's car was too large to adhere to regulations. 

Citroën is appealing the disqualification. It says that the clutch that was homologated used holes to lighten it. The clutch in Hirvonen's car had no holes because the the team's supplier gave them a new batch that did not have the holes. It says that the turbine was larger than the specification because it had been under high heat and rpms during the rally, which made it grow larger. 

Unless Citroën wins its challenge against the WRC Mads Ostberg is the new winner of the rally; Evgeny Novikov is in second; and Petter Solberg moves up to the third position. 

Source: Autosport (1,2)