Toyota Team Europe's expulsion for the World Rally Championship took place during the 1995 and 1996 seasons. It occurred following a breach of the sport's technical regulations, when it was discovered TTE had modified a compulsory turbo restrictor to gain a competitive advantage, and done so in a way that it was concealed from official scrutineers. The device was discovered at the 1995 Catalunya Rally, the penultimate round of the 1995 season. A report was passed to the FIA, World Rallying's governing body, who convened an extraordinary meeting of the FIA's World Council. At this meeting it was decided to strip the team of all points earned during the 1995 season, and to prevent them from taking part for the remainder of the 1995 season and the entire 1996 season.

The president of the FIA, Max Mosley, described the modifications made to the air restrictor as "the most ingenious thing I have seen in 30 years of motorsport."

Technical

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Stuff here.

Discovery

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In-depth details here.

World Council

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An extraordinary meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council was summoned for the 3rd November 1995. At the meeting, Toyota Motorsport GmbH admitted that the air restricter used on their cars turbocharger at the Rally Catalunya was not compliant with the regulations, but senior team management stated that they were not aware of it. This defence was deemed to be insufficient.

The press release issued by the FIA mentioned that the incident did not involve anyone outside the team, and that Toyota Motor Corporation were not involved.