(Reuters) – Championship leader Sebastien Ogier’s M-Sport team have appealed after the Frenchman was stripped of four bonus points from Sunday’s Rally Mexico, leaving him four clear of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville in the standings.
Stewards imposed a 10-second penalty on Ogier for hitting a chicane in the final Power Stage, in which he had been second fastest.
Neuville gained an additional bonus point as a result of Ogier’s demotion out of the top five in the stage, leaving the rally winner on 56 and his Belgian rival on 52 after three rounds.
The next rally is Corsica on April 5-8.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
