Dakar driver facing disqualification after bizarre mobile phone incident

Toyota factory driver Lucas Moraes will compete in the remainder of the Dakar Rally on a knife-edge after being handed a suspended disqualification penalty by the stewards following a bizarre incident.

Footage has emerged of Morares' co-driver, Armand Monleon, being handed a mobile phone by "a totally unknown person", as described in the stewards' document, whilst sitting in the cockpit of the car during a neutralisation period on stage five.

Dakar Rally rules specifically state that no communication devices are allowed on board a vehicle, regardless of whether they are used or not.

The stewards' document adds that Monleon "declared that in the heat of the race he took it [the mobile phone] without realising the possible consequences". He "apologised, recognising the mistake".

The stewards opted to disqualify Moraes and Monleon, albeit suspended until the end of the rally "subject to no further breach of a similar nature committed by the competitor during this period".

The stewards additionally handed the duo a one-hour time penalty for stage five, further plummeting them down the standings.

Moraes had been fifth overall until Saturday, but hit trouble and lost over three hours. The additional one-hour penalty is of little consequence.

Remarkably, Moraes bounced back from the disappointments by claiming victory on stage seven, the Al Dwadimi loop, finishing seven minutes ahead of Ford duo Mattias Ekstrom and Mitchel Guthrie.

The battle for overall victory is still between two Toyota drivers, and is becoming increasingly tense after Yazeed Al Rajhi again made up time on leader Henk Lategan to close the gap to just 21 seconds.

Ekstrom and Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah remain in the hunt but will need to profit from mistakes or issues to aid their quest.

Check out the overall standings below!