Temple of VTEC Rumors and News - BAR Honda Racing Team Suffers Setback: Two Race Ban Handed Down

We have been closely monitoring this situation but up to this point have been awaiting to hear a final ruling rather than stirring the pot any further.

In brief summary, following the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks ago, there was a situation during the post race tech inspection of Jenson Button's car involving race weight and secondary fuel tanks. Following 6 hours of scrutiny and deliberations by the race stewards, B�A�R Honda was cleared by the stewards and their P3 results stood. Almost immediately following this, F1 management indicated that they were unhappy with the decision taken by the stewards and filed an appeal with the FIA. The FIA held a hearing in Paris, France yesterday, and handed down their decision today.

The punishment boils down to this: B�A�R Honda cannot compete in the next two races, which are this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix. Furthermore, the points earned in the San Marino Gran Prix have been disqualified, setting B�A�R Honda back to zero on the season. And finally, a six month ban that was to have taken effect following the Monaco GP was suspended for one year.

The official FIA ruling is available here:
http://www.fia.com/mediacentre/Press_Releases/FIA_Sport/2005/May/050505-01.html

For those interested in reading more about this situation, there has been a lot of heated discussion and debate in our Professional Motorsports forum for the last few weeks.

Update: B�A�R Honda releases statement:

FIA APPEAL VERDICT - A Statement from the B�A�R Honda Team

05.05.05

This is a statement from Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer of B�A�R Honda in relation to the ruling of the FIA International Court of Appeal, 5 May 2005:

"B�A�R Honda is appalled at the decision of the FIA International Court of Appeal and asserts that the judgement is contrary to all of the evidence heard yesterday. The team proved that it complied with the current regulations and the FIA now acknowledges that the regulations are unclear.

"We repeat that at no time did B�A�R Honda run underweight at the San Marino Grand Prix and this was also unchallenged by the FIA.

"While the International Court of Appeal rejected the FIA's original accusations of fraud and deception, B�A�R Honda says that this penalty is wholly and grossly disproportionate.

"The team is advised by its legal counsel that the judgement is plainly wrong based on the evidence presented and it is currently examining its options."