Abu Dhabi's Khalid back in title hunt

Anthony Fernandes 09:12 21/09/2014
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  • Mixing caution with aggression: Sheikh Khalid won one stage yesterday.

    Abu Dhabi Racing driver Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi’s title challenge in the FIA Middle East Rally Cham­pionship (MERC) got a timely boost yesterday after overall leader Nasser Al Attiyah of Qatar retired even before starting the first test in the morning.

    Engine gremlins struck again for the nine-time regional champion, forcing Al Attiyah to park his Ford Fiesta RRC just after exiting the service park.

    Al Attiyah had struggled with overheating problems the previous day during qualifying, but it ap­pears his team was unable to fix the issue before the start of yesterday’s competitive stages.

    The Qatari initially had planned to carry out further repairs on his Fiesta and re-start today under Rally 2 regulations, albeit with a time penalty, but his team later an­nounced that Al Attiyah had decid­ed to retire from the penultimate round of the championship.

    Sheikh Khalid himself had a scare on the fourth special stage when he spun out and lost time getting back on the track. To make matters worse, Sheikh Khalid was forced to slow down after his Citroen DS3 RRC too started overheating, resulting in him dropping down the pecking order to fourth which he managed to protect till the end of the day.

    Sheikh Khalid said: “We are still following a balanced strategy. Spe­cial stage two was really good; we set a very good time and that put us in the lead.

    “However, in order to preserve our tyres on the tarmac stages we had to slow down and dropped to second overall.”

    Explaining his fourth position finish on the day, Sheikh Khalid said overheating issues meant he had to adopt a cautious approach.

    Al Attiyah has won three of the five rounds so far, collecting 75 points to lead the championship with Sheikh Khalid further back 24 points in second on 51 points.

    The Qatari’s retirement will have come as a big relief for the Abu Dhabi Racing driver, who now must take as many points as possible if he hopes to win his second regional title, after having triumphed for the first time in 2008.

    In all likelihood, Sheikh Khalid looks headed for a fourth place fin­ish in Cyprus, meaning he will take home 12 points and close the gap with Al Attiyah to just 12 points.

    A mouthwatering finale appears to be on the cards when the sixth and final round is held on the week­end of November 27 in Dubai.

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