Nasser Al Attiyah clinches 12th victory in Qatar to take regional rally series lead

Anthony Fernandes 09:24 08/02/2015
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  • Victory on home soil: Nasser Al Attiyah has now won the Qatar event for the 12th time in 13 appearances.

    Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah opened his FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) campaign with a comfortable victory over long-time bitter rival Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi of Abu Dhabi Racing in Qatar on Saturday.

    Al Attiyah took the lead of the rally on the very first day, on Friday, fending off a challenge from compatriot Abdulaziz Al Kuwari until the latter was eventually forced to retire with mechanical issues.

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    This promoted Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi to second and Sheikh Khalid to third going into the overnight night.

    Resuming on the final day yesterday, Al Attiyah was hotly pursued by Al Rajhi, the Saudi driver a minute behind the leader and Sheikh Khalid further back six minutes in third.

    However, Al Rajhi, who was on course to sealing second overall, was hit by a misfortune of his own after damaging a rear suspension on the penultimate stage and being forced to retire.

    On the place: Despite finishing second, Sheikh Khalid is happy with his place.

    The dual turn of events involving Al Kuwari and Al Rajhi promoted Sheikh Khalid to second, the Abu Dhabi driver then putting pedal to metal in a desperate bid to erase the five-minute deficit to Al Attiyah.

    The Abu Dhabi driver did a remarkable job, clawing back 31 seconds on the final test but it was too little too late to snatch victory.

    Sheikh Khalid, who had also lost nearly six minutes on the opening day and yesterday with several punctures, later said: “We faced double competition at this year’s rally, from drivers and luck. We showed how competitive we can be, but things went wrong [punctures]. But we proved that we have the pace to challenge for the top.

    “We first had a puncture on the opening day which cost us four minutes, and then the drive shaft issue dropped us another two minutes [behind].

    'We proved that we have the pace to challenge for the top' – Sheikh Khalid

    Al Attiyah, who sealed a 12th victory on home soil in 13 appearances, said: “It’s obviously always a special feeling to win here in Qatar, and to make a winning start to the defence of my Middle East title was important."

    The triumph in Qatar was also Al Attiyah’s 55th career MERC win. The 2015 Dakar Rally winner is now just five Middle East rally wins short of the 60 won by Dubai’s Mohammed Ben Sulayem between 1984 and 2002.

    Meanwhile, Qatar’s Khalifa Al Attiyah, who restarted under Rally2 regulations after retiring the previous day, sealed the third and final spot on the podium.Nasser Al-Attiyah celebrates on the podium of the 2015 Rally Dakar in Buenos Aires.

    Kuwait’s Salah Bin Eidan finished fourth overall and first in Group N while the Iran Ali Mesgarha was classified second overall in the N class. 

    Qatar’s Khalid Al Suwaidi, who also started under Rally2 regulations, rounded off the top five overall while compatriot Abdullah Al Kuwari struggled to seventh after a catalogue of problems.

    German Edith Weiss came home eighth and won the ladies’ category for the second year running.

    Unlike previous years, the MERC from 2015 onwards will comprise of eight rounds instead of six after Iran and Oman were included in the regional series.

    The expansion of the series means Al Attiyah will face a more serious challenge to the defence of his Middle East title this year.
    Kuwait will host the second round of the championship from March 12-14.

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