Having listened to evidence at its hearing on 21 and 22 December, the Motor Sports Association National Court has made the following ruling:

The court has fined Mr Peter Christodoulou £30,000 after he admitted to modifying kart racing engines in an illegal manner.

This followed the removal of four kart engines for inspection during a race meeting at the Rowrah circuit on 5 June 2005.

The court heard that the cheating in this case was "very deliberate, very sophisticated and very expensive".

A statement from the court read: "The maximum fine provided for under rule Z 13.7.viii (which was applicable to this case) is one of £36,050. That is what is appropriate for the most serious offence which the evidence established this to be. We do, however, think that it would be right to reduce that amount to reflect the fact that Mr Christodoulou admitted his guilt, albeit at a late stage. We accordingly impose a fine of £30,000."

All further matters concerning Mr Christodoulou, including costs, will be dealt with at a later date to be fixed.

The engines modified by Mr Christodoulou were removed from the karts of his son Adam Christodoulou, a competitor in the Junior Rotax category, and Mini-Max competitors Lewis Reeves, Jack Harvey and Jordan Chamberlain.

Matters relating to these four competitors have been adjourned to a later date to be fixed.

Release MSA05-058: 23 December 2005