Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi opted to take a long view after a promising outing suffered a minor setback at the end of day two of the Dakar Rally.
The Abu Dhabi Racing and Peugeot Middle East driver, behind the wheel of a 3008 DKR Maxi and with co-driver Xavier Panseri, made steady progress to finish 11th on the day, improving his overall position from 24th to 11th.
Near the finish, however, Al Qassimi noticed he had missed a point on the course and had to head back, resulting in a loss of time.
Nevertheless, he was pleased with his performance on the day.
“When we reached the flying finish we realised that we had missed a point and had to drive back maybe for about 9km and I noticed that cars I had passed earlier were now going ahead of me,” Al Qassimi said.
“The most important thing is we got to the missed point but in the process lost about five odd minutes.
“Despite this small setback, we have a good rhythm and now look to the next day.”
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge winner had a balanced start to his Dakar Rally campaign on day one, but a lost waypoint cost him about two minutes.
Under new regulations, drivers are now not permitted to carry maps in any form (paper, electronic or any other type of support) so crews must therefore rely solely on the roadbook and the GPS system provided by the organisers.
Sheikh Khalid, however, adjusted to the rule change to improve on his time and set himself up for the days ahead.
