Simon Taylor, Head of Sports Law at Freeth Cartwright Solicitors, has just been to Rome. But not just to see the Colosseum, St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican, but as part of the day job in successfully appealing decisions of the Race Director and Stewards at the historic Monza racing circuit.

Simon acts for Carlin, whose French driver Jean-Eric Vergne won the second race in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in Monza, near Milan, in May, only to have a penalty imposed when his car strayed outside a chicane.

At the Court of Appeal of the Italian Governing Body of Motorsport and before judges convened from all over Italy Simon successfully argued for the reversal of the decision, which meant Jean-Eric reclaimed first place in the race and second place in the championship standings.

Simon is a renowned legal specialist in motorsport and in the last three decades has acted on many high profile matters for clients. Carlin, a client of Simon's for many years, has traditionally provided a ladder into Formula One for many talented young drivers.

Simon says of the case:

"The Italian judges issued a clear judgment agreeing that the relevant provisions of the Sporting Regulations simply weren't applicable to this situation, where Jean-Eric strayed outside the race track only to avoid a race incident and he derived no advantage from the manoeuvre.  

Jean-Eric had his race win restored and the decision leaves Jean-Eric well-placed to challenge for the Championship in the final race."

Trevor Carlin, the Team Principal, said:

"This was a really important appeal for Jean-Eric and particularly difficult because it was held in a foreign appeal court. However, Simon coolly identified the issues, collected the evidence and expertly presented our case to the Italian court. A tremendous job and a great result, which is why he is rated so highly in the industry."