Dubai Rally to launch another epic battle to decide Middle East Championship title

Sport360 staff 15:42 25/11/2014
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  • Defining race: This weekend's race in Dubai is a three-way fight to determine who takes the Middle Eat crown.

    The Dubai International Rally has launched some epic battles over the last four decades to decide the FIA Middle East Championship, and that trend continues this weekend as the race comes down to the wire in the UAE’s longest serving sports event.

    On this occasion there is a three-way fight to determine who takes the Middle East crown, with Qatar’s defending champion Nasser Al Attiyah, looking to win it for the ninth time.

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    Al Attiyah is under pressure from the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi and another Qatari, Abdulaziz Al Kuwari.

    The defending champion is top seed for the sixth and final round of the Middle East Championship following earlier ralles in Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Cyrpus.  

    Among the other Emirati drivers hoping to give the host country victory in the build-up to UAE National Day are Sheikh Abdullah Al Qassimi and Rashid Al Ketbi, both driving Ford Fiesta RRCs.

    “The fight for the championship is down to three drivers, but there are always a lot of possibilities in international rallying and no-one can take anything for granted,” said ATCUAE President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

    Pursuing his first Dubai Rally win since his back-to-back victories in 2005 and 2006, Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi spearheads a five-car challenge from Abu Dhabi Racing and Citroen.

    Partnered by Chris Patterson in a Citroen DS3, he is joined by fellow Emirati drivers Mohammed Al Mutawaa and Mohamed Al Sahlawi – both completing their second season in the championship – and this year’s new boys, Saeed Bintouq and Mansoor Al Helei.

    As usual, the Qatari challenge in Dubai is strong, with Abdulla Al Kuwari and Khalid Al Suwaidi also entering Ford Fiestas and Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah, lying second in the production class championship, at the wheel of a Group N Mitsubishi Evo.

    Having already secured the Middle East Group N title, Kuwait’s Mshari Althefiri will be looking to round off the season with another success in Dubai, while Qatar-based female driver Edith Weiss, aims to secure third place overall in the championship’s production class.

    No driver has tried harder to win the Dubai Rally than UAE-based Lebanese veteran Michel Saleh, and he maintains his ever present record in the event at the weekend in a Subaru.

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