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MELBOURNE - Holden's Rick Kelly will retain the 2006 V8 Supercar championship title after stewards yesterday dismissed a protest by his Ford rival Craig Lowndes.
A three-man Confederation of Australian Motorsport panel of race stewards took four hours to decide in Kelly's favour.
Kelly won the V8 title for the first time in controversial circumstances at Phillip Island on Sunday after a tangle with Lowndes early in the final race when they were tied on points.
Race officials had ruled Kelly responsible for a third lap tangle which resulted in Lowndes suffering extensive steering damage.
The Commodore driver was given a drive-through penalty during the race and recovered to finish 18th while Lowndes struggled and placed 29th.
A race stewards' hearing immediately after the event decided Kelly's pitlane penalty was sufficient. Lowndes' team protested that it was too lenient as the incident effectively ended their driver's title hopes.
Following yesterday's hearing, chief steward Steve Chopping said that, after considering all the facts, the penalty imposed on Kelly during the race was deemed appropriate and no further action was necessary.
Kelly said he was relieved at the stewards' decision to dismiss the protest.
"It wasn't the ideal way to finish the championship but we're certainly glad it's all over now," Kelly said.
"There's always a level of concern going into something like this [the hearing] but we were quite confident that the original penalty was more than adequate for the crime.
"For that reason we weren't too worried."
Lowndes and his Triple Eight Racing team boss Roland Dane emerged from the hearing to consider their next move.
They have the option of taking the matter to the V8 Supercar court of appeal and could go as high as world motorsport's governing body, the FIA.
- AAP
