Rallying-Citroen terminate Meeke's contract after crashes

The French manufacturer team said in a statement on Thursday that the Northern Irishman would play no further part in this year's championship.

It said some of Meeke's crashes had been "particularly heavy" and could have had serious consequences with regard to the crew's safety.

"Given that the risks involved were unjustified by the sporting stakes at play, Citroen Racing WRT has decided to terminate the participation of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle in the 2018 WRC," the team said.

Meeke was flown to hospital for checks after crashing heavily into trees during last weekend's round in Portugal, a race he won in 2016.

Citroen Racing head Pierre Budar said the decision had not been an easy one to take but it was "largely founded on safety issues" and had been made as preventive measure. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin in Monaco, editing by Christian Radnedge)