Zengo Motorsport’s Zsolt Szabo has been penalised for an engine change and dropped to the back of the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race at the Slovakia Ring.
Teams are only permitted under the regulations to use a single engine for the duration of the ten-event calendar.
Any change without the approval of the stewards under force majeure circumstances means an automatic grid drop for the next race.
The Sebastien Loeb Racing pairing of Rob Huff and Medhi Bennani were granted such an exemption after a crash at Vila Real last time out destroyed both Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR machines.
John Fillipi’s CUPRA was similarly spared, though by virtue of repairing his Hyundai i30 N in Portugal and going on to claim pole position and the final race win, Thed Bjork will start Race 1 from the rear of the field, as it was deemed the team clearly did not require an engine change in Slovakia but undertook one.
The opening race of the weekend starts at 11:00 BST tomorrow [14th July].