(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has laid out five demanding desert selective sections for car, bike and quad entrants in this year's Sealine Cross-Country Rally, the third round of the 2015 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and second round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, from April 18-24.
There will be no super special stage or ceremonial start on this occasion and the competitive action will get underway on April 20 (Monday) with the first provisional 194km timed section from a start at the Losail International Circuit.
Minor route amendments are being made this week by event officials and the precise distances of the stages may change slightly over the coming days, but selective sections of 397.56km, 401.15km, 400.55km and 364.28km had been originally planned to test teams to the limit before the ceremonial finish at the bivouac near Sealine on April 24 (Friday). In an intended compact route of approximately 1,917km, over 90 percent of which will be competitive.
"We have been making subtle improvements and changes to
the route and the format of the event each year," said Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah, President of the QMMF and FIA Vice-president, MENA.
"Feedback last year from competitors was extremely positive and we had one of the most exciting finishes in the motorcycle category. Our terrain is varied and demanding and our team has laid on a difficult route with very challenging navigation," he added.
Portugal's Pedro Almeida will act as clerk of the course once again for the auto event, with Qatar's Marwan Musabah working alongside as his deputy and with Jaime Santos on the complex road book. Iain Black is the clerk of the course of the motorcycle event.
Victories last year fell to two-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (Mini All4 Racing), Joan Barreda Bort (Honda CRF 450) and Mohammed Abu Issa (Honda) in their respective car, motorcycle and quad categories. All three are expected to return to defend their Sealine titles in 2015.
Administration checks, scrutinizing, the initial briefing and the pre-event press conference will take place at the Losail International Circuit, north of Doha, April 18 and April 19.
Entries open for all categories tomorrow (February 19). Supplementary regulations are now available for download from www.qmmf.com.
Entries close at the reduced rate on March 12, with the final entry cut-off set on April 2. Full details on costs and concessions are available at www.qmmf.com.
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