(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The second-seeded combination of Khalid al Minji and his co-driver Saif al Aisri claimed the overall championship title after finishing runner-up in the fourth and final round of the Oman Rally Championship 2013 at the Oman Automobile Association (OAA) recently.
The duo clocked 56m36s to accumulate 57 points overall.
The title also ensured the pair the top seed position for next year's edition.
Ten competitors entered the final round of the rally, including three Oman Youth Rally Cup (OYRC) teams.
The day began with positions constantly changing right from the start, while the 2012 runner-up team of Khalid Soomar and co-driver Amur al Zadjali - seeded No 1 in 2013 - withdrew due to a malfunction in their car.
UAE's Sheikh Abdullah al Qassimi and his co-driver Khalid al Kindi won the final round after finishing in 52m22s.
In the overall leaderboard, the UAE pair secured 50 points and finished runner-up.
Minji said after the win, ''The challenges in this competition were extremely tough. Competitors displayed top-class driving standards and were reaching peak levels most of the time. Also, we faced some technical malfunctions in the previous rounds. I am happy we still managed to win the title.''
The surprise podium finisher was the OYRC White team of Zakariya al Aufi and his co-driver Issa al Wardi in their unusual front-wheel drive rally car.
With a time of 58m36s, they secured the third position in the concluding round. The team collected 45 points to finish overall third.
They were closely followed by the team of Hamid al Qasimi and Jaifar al Qasimi, which finished fourth in the last race with a time of 59m14s.
The OYRC Red team, consisting of Hamed al Subhi and his co-driver Mohammed al Mazroui, completed the last round in 1h3m29s, while the OYRC Green team of Haitham al Zadjali and Ammar al Balushi finished in 1h8m43s.
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