Leading South West law firm Ashfords has achieved a double success in front of motorsport's national governing body.
The Motor Sport Council National Court's decisions concerned the 2008 British Rally Championship (the final round of the Championship is the Wales Rally GB this weekend) and also the 2008 BritCar 24 Hours Race that took place at Silverstone, in September 2008.
Ashfords' lawyer and motorsport specialist, Jamie Horner, the brother of Red Bull F1 Team Principal Christian Horner, was instructed by Mitsubishi Motors UK (MMUK), and also Taunton-based rising endurance racing star Adam Sharpe, to appeal two unconnected stewards' decisions that had been made against each of them. Christopher Quinlan of Guildhall Chambers in Bristol appeared on behalf of both appellants.
MMUK successfully appealed the Stewards' decision to exclude the Mitsubishi Evo IX works rally car driven by Guy Wilks, the reigning British Rally Champion, from an earlier round of the British Rally Championship on 27 September 2008, on technical grounds, following protests about the legality of the top fixing of the car's steering column. The National Court found that the Evo IX steering column used on Guy Wilks' car, in fact, complied with the FIA Regulations.
In Adam Sharpe's case the National Court overturned the Stewards' decision to exclude him from the BritCar 24 Hours race at Silverstone on 20 September 2008, following an incident at the start of the race. The National Court came to their decision having considered logged data evidence from Sharpe's Eclipse Mosler, which confirmed that the car had been suffering from a gearbox problem at the start of that race.
Commenting after the hearings, Jamie Horner said: "I am delighted to have been approached by MMUK and Adam Sharpe to act for them in relation to their successful appeals to the MSC National Court. The high profile nature of both of these matters reinforces Ashfords' position as one of the few law firms in the country that delivers a specialist all-encompassing service to motorsport clients."
Notes to editors:
* Ashfords solicitors is one of the UK's leading full service law firms with dedicated corporate, commercial, public sector and private client solicitors serving local, national and international clients. Ashfords solicitors has offices in Exeter, Bristol, London, Plymouth, Taunton and Tiverton. www.ashfords.co.uk
* Ashfords has a specialist team of sports lawyers. Our expertise is primarily in horse racing and other equine disciplines, motorsport, football, cycling, cricket, boxing and rugby union. We act for individuals, clubs, team sponsors and rights holders and advise on issues arising both on and off the field of play. www.ashfords.co.uk/Sport
* The Motor Sports Association has full details of all cases on its website at www.msauk.org
Ashfords is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The information in this article is intended to be general information about English law only and not comprehensive. It is not to be relied on as legal advice nor as an alternative to taking professional advice relating to specific circumstances.