Tuesday October 1st, 2002

Czech driver Tomas Enge has been stripped of the F3000 title he won last month after the FIA announced he has been disqualified from the Hungarian F3000 race after he tested positive for cannabis at the Hungaroring race back in August.

The FIA's World Motor Sport Council announced in a press release today that having heard the submissions from the parties concerned, they had decided to exclude Enge from the Hungarian race, where the 26-year old finished in first position.

Enge had taken the F3000 title pending the FIA's decision after scoring a third place in the race at Monza last month, finishing three points ahead of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais in the race for the title.

Having lost the 10 points from his win in Hungary, Enge has been demoted to third place in the championship while Bourdais is the new champion and Italian Giorgio Pantano is the runner-up.

The FIA also said that Enge, who became the first Czech Formula One driver last season when he drove for the defunct Prost team, will have his license suspended for 12 months. However, that will be suspended on condition that Enge tests negative in random dope tests to be conducted over the next 12 months.

Enge is the first driver to fail a drugs test in a major international championship.

Published at 15:17:25 GMT