Porsche will appeal the rejection of its protest filed after the disputed outcome of Saturday’s GTE Pro title decider in the Eight Hours of Bahrain.
The title battle between Porsche and rivals Ferrari ended in controversial circumstances when the Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi made contact with the leading the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Michael Christensen, tagging the Dane into a spin.
Pier Guidi was ordered to give up the position and slowed down in an attempt to let the Porsche back past, but remained out in front when Christensen brought the Porsche to pitlane for a scheduled fuel stop.
After Pier Guidi also pitted, he kept the lead. The Italian then proceeded to cross the line, claiming the world title for himself and team-mate James Calado.
After filing an earlier protest to the stewards that was rejected, Porsche now looks set to take the case to the FIA International Court of Appeals.
In its initial protest, Porsche claimed alleged that the collision between the two cars was not reported to the stewards but was instead solely handled by the Race Director, which Porsche say is in violation of the International Sporting Code.
This was refuted by the stewards as the decisions with regards to the incident ‘were reported to the Stewards by the Race Director, investigated and taken by the Stewards in accordance with the Race Director.’ The protest was subsequently rejected, but Porsche was reminded of its right to appeal in the original bulletin.
When approached for comment, a Porsche spokesperson confirmed to MotorsportWeek.com that the marque has decided to appeal the decision. This is further evidenced by the fact that the final classification of Saturday’s race is currently subject to appeal.
It means that Calado and Pier Guidi are provisionally crowned world champions, while Porsche has 96 hours to decide whether or not it will uphold the appeal.
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