On February 11, 2025, the International Court of Appeal gathered in Paris for an important hearing.
The case in question, ICA-2024-14, involves an appeal filed by MP Motorsport B.V. This appeal contests Decision No. 13 issued on December 4, 2024, by the National Appeal and Disciplinary Court of the Real Federación Española de Automovilismo (RFEdA). This took place within the context of the 2024 International Series Eurocup-3 Championship.
Rewinding a bit to November 9, 2024, during a nail-biting race at Circuit de Montmeló, Christian Ho from Campos Racing and Emmo Fittipaldi from MP Motorsport found themselves in a heated moment. In a dramatic sequence at Turn 1-2 on lap 16, Christian Ho, driving car number 23, managed to overtake Fittipaldi’s car number 24. The maneuver forced Fittipaldi off the track momentarily. He had to use the auxiliary road before skillfully rejoining the track right in front of Ho.
After reviewing the incident, the Stewards, at 6:23 PM CET, declared it a racing incident, deciding no further action was necessary. However, Campos Racing wasn’t satisfied with this outcome and requested that the Stewards review the CCTV and onboard footage. The Stewards stuck to their guns and maintained their original decision.
Not backing down, Campos Racing made their move at precisely 7:46 PM CET, filing an appeal with the Spanish National Court of Appeal. Fast forward to December 4, 2024, the National Court flipped the initial ruling on its head, stating that Fittipaldi breached Article 20.16 of the Sporting Regulations and Article 12.2.1.i of the International Sporting Code. This resulted in a 5-second penalty for car number 24.
Determined to challenge this, MP Motorsport took the matter to the ICA on December 11, 2024.
During the hearing, after careful consideration and deliberation on all sides, the International Court of Appeal validated the December 4 decision by the National Appeal and Disciplinary Court of the RFEdA.
The distinguished panel presiding over the case included Mr. Arnas Paliukenas from Lithuania as President, alongside Mr. Sergio Araújo from Portugal, Mr. Guillermo Esquivel Herrera from Costa Rica, and Mr. Michael Grech from Malta.
For those interested in diving into the specifics, the full decision can be accessed here.
