M-Sport Ford's Sebastien Ogier has lost his appeal against a time penalty handed down by event stewards at Rally Mexico in March.
The Frenchman, who won the rally, was handed a ten-second time penalty after he struck a chicane in the event-closing Las Minas Power Stage.
Ogier’s original time placed him second in the stage rankings behind Ott Tänak, which would have handed him an additional four bonus points and extended his championship lead. However the penalty relegated the Ford Fiesta driver down to seventh and out of the top five points-paying positions.
His M-Sport team appealed the decision with a hearing held earlier this month. However on Friday the FIA’s International Court of Appeal in Paris announced it had rejected the appeal, meaning the penalty stands.
The court also ordered M-Sport Ford to pay all the costs related to the hearing.
