Hyundai star Neuville disqualified from 2023 Safari Rally Kenya

NAIROBI, June 26 (Xinhua)

Hyundai Motorsport star Thierry Neuville has sensationally been disqualified from the 2023 WRC Safari Rally Kenya after event stewards found the Belgian driver to have conducted illegal race activities during the rally.

The World Rally Championship (WRC) confirmed in a statement posted on their website on Sunday evening, hours after the event finished in Naivasha, 90km northwest of the capital Nairobi, that Neuville, who finished eighth overall, had been stripped of his result.

The Belgian was convicted by stewards for relying on an unauthorized person - who was not named - to gain knowledge of potential obstacles along the route of the seventh round of the 2023 WRC calendar.

"The person was on private property without authorization and was stopped by officials in two locations on two different days. The evidence presented to the stewards indicated links of this person to Neuville.

"When asked, Neuville promptly admitted to the stewards that he was aware of the identified person and that he had requested this person's support in identifying specific concerns (areas where rocks had moved) in some special stages," WRC said.

Safari Rally organizers commissioned the independent investigation received from the clerk of the course.

It indicated instances where an unauthorized person was seen, after reconnaissance, to be driving on routes that would be used as special stages over the course of the rally in contravention of WRC rules.

As a result of the disqualification, Neuville slipped to fifth in the 2023 WRC Driver's Standings on 93 points, 47 behind world champion and log leader Kalle Rovanpera who finished second in the Safari with six rallies to go.

The Belgian, who won the sixth leg of the WRC, Rally Sardinia in Italy earlier this month, had come to the Safari second to Rovanpera in the standings.

Welshman Elfyn Evans (99) who finished third in Kenya, has moved up to second in the driver's ahead of Safari winner Sebastien Ogier (98) and 2019 world champion, Ott Tanak (98).

In another late Sunday evening steward's decision, Swedish rally driver Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were penalized two minutes for using one tyre more than their allotted number of 26.

The two-minute penalty had no impact on the pairing's overall standing with Martin Prokop still nearly nine minutes in arrears.

The disqualification of Neuville moved Solberg into ninth overall.