(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally team strengthened their provisional second position in the overall standings of the manufacturers' championship at the Rally Italia Sardegna after team driver Mads Ostberg finished in fifth place, increasing the team's points to 115. Shaikh Khalid bin Faisal Al Qassimi finished Rally Sardegna in seventh position in the WRC category, following steady but cautious strategy aboard the DS 3 WRC.
"It was an extremely tough rally," said Al Qassimi and added: "The first two days were very difficult and we encountered a lot of problems. The stages were rough, slippery and it was tough to maintain a steady and balanced pace. I would say the afternoon loop on day two was a bit easier to manage, but overall I was a bit disappointed. The third day featured the longest stage in this year's championship since 2002 and despite a fairly disastrous opening leg things started to improve. Thanks to the hard work of the engineers, we managed to improve the set-up over the course of the stages. I drove a bit more cautiously, perhaps too much so, but it helped us to move up the rankings. The last day was short but difficult with slippery and narrow stages but we continued to make progress. All in all, I'm very pleased to finish inside the top 10".
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