Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah recovered from three punctures in searing heat to storm to victory on Leg 2 of the Pharaons International Rally, in Egypt yesterday.
Day two of the rally severely tested some of the best in the business, with temperatures rising past the 47°C mark and taking its toll on both man and machine in equal measure.
Overnight leader Yazeed Al Rajhi of Saudi Arabia opened the morning’s first test and he quickly began putting distance between himself and championship leader Vladimir Vasilyev of Russia, the former holding a 3min 50sec advantage over his East European rival.
Third-placed Erik Van Loon did not last too long in the heat and was quickly passed by Al Attiyah, the Qatari putting pedal to metal in an attempt to cut the nearly 13min advantage that Al Rajhi held overnight.
Barely one hour into the 363km stage and Al Attiyah suffered the first of three punctures that threatened to blow away his Egyptian challenge.
Luck did smile upon the Qatari though, when Al Rajhi suffered the same fate on two occasions up front, allowing Al Attiyah to take the lead.
From then on, the Qatari mixed caution with aggression and finished the day ahead of the pack, with Vasilyev 1min 57sec behind in second and Al Rajhi a further 3min 48sec behind to complete the top three.
The victory means Al Attiyah moved to third overall from fourth and within 7 minutes of second-placed Vasilyev.
The Qatari still reamins 9 minutes off of overall leader Al Rajhi.
With three more days still left to go of the 2,000km event, Al Attiyah will be looking to first overhaul Vasilyev before risking an assault on the first position.
Al Attiyah said: “Three spare wheels and three punctures. The first two in the first 80km, then on a plateau full of rocks; it has been a bit stressful and from now on we must pay maximum attention.
“The third puncture occurred at 120km from the arrival. We lost several precious minutes and yet surprisingly arrived first.”
Al Rajhi was content with the result, saying: “A good day but it has not been easy to open the track. We had two punctures and just two spare wheels, and that situation worries us a bit.
“After the first puncture Vasilyev passed us; then we changed positions five or six times. But in the end we arrived in front of him, so good.”
And Russia’s Vasilyev heaved a sigh of relief that the day was finally behind him.
“The most important thing is that we are at the end of this difficult stage and that we did not have much problems,” said Vasilyev.
"We enjoyed the fight with Yazeed; it was difficult to exit at the end of the stage from the dunes, which were really soft.
“Moreover, the air-conditioning did not work and the car got really hot.”
Today’s Leg 3 will see the crews tackle 290km in total.
