Sheikh Khalid climbs to ninth in Cross Country Rally World Cup

Sport360 staff 11:28 27/07/2015
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  • Strong showing: Sheikh Khalid.

    Sheikh Khalid bin Faisal Al Qassimi battled through tough conditions to seal a top-10 finish at the Baja Aragon on Sunday.

    In the sixth round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, the Emirati successfully finished in sixth place in the final stage with a time of 2:28:39.0, which was the fastest among the Overdrive racing team and was enough to finish ninth overall.

    The result could have been better, but unfortunately co-driver Edouard Boulanger suffered from a sudden illness which paid its toll on his and Sheikh Khalid’s focus.

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    However, Sheikh Khalid was delighted to end the event on a high. He said: “It was a great experience for me and I’ve enjoyed it a lot, unfortunately leg two was not the best so we decided today to focus on the stage and drive in balanced rhythm.

    “The strategy paid off as we were really fast in the first 100km of the stage and we caught up with the competitors but we had to drive behind them stuck in the dust for around 80km.” 

    He added: “All in all the result was good indeed, it could have been better of course but at the end of the day we enjoyed the event and gained the experience we want.”

    Celebrations: Qassimi and Boulanger.

    It was a good performance by the drivers, after surpassing all barriers and obstacles which affected day two on Saturday. Sheikh Khalid and Boulanger completed their overall 644km journey in 9:19:07.0 hours.

    Sheikh Khalid, behind the wheel of the modified Toyota Hilux by Overdrive Racing during the event, also clinched seventh position overall in the 70-car field category in the Baja Aragon Super Special Stage.

    With a strong field, Sheikh Khalid entered the final day in 13th place in the overall standings after finishing the first stage in 2:12:49.0 hours on Saturday.

    He was later back in action after half an hour pit-stop, driving for four hours non-stop to complete stage two in 4:33:18.0 hours. 

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