Five drivers will be investigated by the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) stewards this morning for allegedly blocking Team WRT’s Gordon Shedden during qualifying yesterday [13th July].
Pepe Oriola, Tom Coronel, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Esteban Guerrieri and Medhi Bennani are all suspected to have impeded the #52 Audi RS 3 LMS on its final run at the end of the session.
The three-time British Touring Car Champion would eventually wind up in 20th, with team mate Jean-Karl Vernay ahead in 8th.
Though that then became 17th and 5th respectively after penalties to Norbert Michelisz, Yvan Muller and Thed Bjork, the Scot could have been higher without traffic on his last hot lap.
Team WRT submitted a protest to the stewards, and the matter is expected to be settled before the opening race today, scheduled for 11:00 BST.
TouringCars.net understands the counter argument put forward by those under investigation centers on Denis Dupont’s Audi, which went off and caused yellow flags at Turn 1.
All five concerned backed off as per regulations, with Shedden the next car through after green flags were waved, significantly shortening the on-circuit gap between them.