Kenyan rally driver Maxine Wahome has pleaded not guilty after being charged with the murder of her boyfriend and fellow racer Assad Khan.
Khan died in a hospital in December last year after sustaining a leg injury.
Wahome is accused of attacking the 50-year-old at their apartment in Nairobi but has claimed she was a victim of domestic violence and that Khan injured himself in a fit of fury.
The daughter of a former rally driver, Wahome has been in motorsport since she was five years old, participating first in autocross, then motocross before switching to rallying in her late teens.
In June last year, she made history by becoming the first woman to win a World Rally Championship (WRC) event in over two decades, claiming victory in Kenya’s Safari Rally, a third-tier leg in the World Championship series.
However, as a result of the murder charge, the WRC has now released Wahome from its Young Rally Stars Programme which helps identify and nurture emerging motorsport talents.
The 27-year-old will remain in custody until her bail hearing on 21 March.