Four of the world's top rally drivers are banned for speeding

Four of the world's top rally drivers have been banned from Britain's public roads after being caught speeding in warm- up trials for the UK leg of last year's world championship.

Four of the world's top rally drivers have been banned from Britain's public roads after being caught speeding in warm- up trials for the UK leg of last year's world championship.

Magistrates in Neath, South Wales, also imposed fines totalling £7,350 and a total of 57 penalty points on 17 rally drivers who committed 37 offences between them.

Among those banned was the Briton Kris Meeke, who was disqualified for 12 months and fined £300 after being caught driving at more than double the speed limit of 30mph.

The drivers were breaking the speed limit in high performance cars the day before the South Wales leg of the Wales Rally GB, in November 2002. Most were caught by a speed trap set up on a two-mile section of the B4242 in Neath, between rally headquarters and a testing area known as the "shake-down" area, which is used for last-minute adjustments to competition cars.

Paul Trotman, for the defence, said the final two miles of road were open to the public but argued that the danger posed was reduced because of the drivers' skill.

Magistrates imposed the most severe ban on Meeke because he already had penalty points on his licence.

Armin Schwarz, a German, Freddy Loix, a Belgian, and Daniel Carlsson, a Swede, were all banned for six months for repeatedly breaking the speed limit.

The leading British stars and former world champions Colin McRae and Richard Burns were both caught by speed traps on roads around Neath. They were each fined £150 and received three penalty points.

Loix was fined £1,750 and banned from driving for six months for seven separate speeding offences within three hours. He was caught at speeds between 44mph and 54mph on a 30mph section of the road.

Schwarz, who lives in Monte Carlo, was caught speeding five times and was banned for six months and fined £1,000. Carlsson was fined £800 and banned for six months for four separate offences. The court hearing came after the conclusion of this year's leg of the Wales Rally held in the same part of south Wales. None of the drivers appeared at the hearing. The other drivers convicted were the Frenchman François Delacour, the German Manfred Stohl, the Finn Mikko Hirvonen, the Estonian Markko Martin and the Spaniard Carols Sainz.