Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and his Belgian co-driver Tom Colsoul have been excluded from the results of the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally, the opening round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.
The MINI John Cooper Works Rally crew had finished third in the provisional rankings behind event winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and runner-up Yazeed Al-Rajhi. Cars were checked to ensure that they conformed to FIA T1 regulations at post-event scrutineering at the Lusail Sports Arena and it came to light that the MINI was four kilogrammes underweight.
The crew were excluded from the final results and the Russian crew of Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov climbed to third in their BMW X3 CC.
2019 Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally – final positions:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 13hrs 18min 44sec
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 13hrs 29min 54sec
3. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS) BMW X3 CC, 14hrs 14min 32sec
4. Yasir Seaidan (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) MINI John Cooper Works Rally, 14hrs 52min 42sec
5. Bernhard Ten Brinke (NLD)/Tom Colsoul (BEL) Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 16hrs 16min 18sec
6. Reinaldo Varela (BRA)/Gustavo Gugelmin (BRA) Can-Am Maverick T3, 19hrs 14min 08sec
7. Fedor Vorobeyev (RUS)/Kirill Shubin (RUS) Can-Am Maverick X3 T3, 21hrs 47min 20sec
8. Camelia Liparoti (ITA)/Max Delfino (FRA) Yamaha YZX 1000 R T3, 23hrs 05min 26sec
9. Eugenio Amos (ITA)/Sebastien Delaunay (FRA) Ford 2WD Buggy, 111hrs 09min 38sec
10. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F150 Evo, 111hrs 54min 56sec…
Neil Perkins,