Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen was stripped of victory in the Rally of Portugal on Sunday after stewards declared that the clutch on his Citroen broke technical regulations, an official source revealed.
However, the decision taken by the stewards can be appealed in the next hour.
Hirvonen initially went top of the world championship standings after his win.
The Citroen driver, runner-up in the world championship last year, recorded his 15th career victory as he beat Sweden’s Mads Ostberg in his Ford Fiesta by almost two minutes while another Fiesta pilot Evgeny Novikov of Russia was third.
Hirvonen’s victory – his first since the Rally of Australia last September – gives him a nine-point lead over teammate and eight-time world champion Sebastien Loeb, who went out of the race on Thursday.