Al Attiyah fastest in opening round in Oman

Date

11/6/2015 4:07:22 PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) QMMF President Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah inaugurates the Oman Rally in Muscat yesterday.

Doha: Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel laid down the gauntlet to their rivals by posting the fastest time on the opening 2.5km timed super special of the 23rd Oman International Rally which was staged near the Oman Automobile Association (OAA) in Muscat yesterday.

The pair carded a time of 2min 18sec in their Ford Fiesta RRC and that was 2.8 seconds quicker than Abu Dhabi Racing’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi driving a Citroen DS3 RRC. Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and British navigator Marshall Clarke were third.

Saif Al Harthy and Salim Al-Abry was the highest-placed Omani crew in seventh overall while Kuwaiti Salah Bin Eidan and his Slovenian co-driver Vili Oslaj led the Group N category in fourth place.

Cars tackled the stage in reverse order although it was a disappointing start for Abu Dhabi Racing’s Mansoor Bel Helai.

The Citroen DS3 R3T driver dropped two minutes on the stage and slipped to the foot of the leader board.

Fifteen of the original 20 entries were flagged away from the start at the Oman Automobile Association by Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah President of the QMMF and FIA Vice-President MENA.

The event is unique in regional rallying history in that with the exception of Oman-based Lebanese driver Tony Georgiou in 1992 no local driver has ever won the event. Abu Dhabi Racing’s Saeed Bintowq suffered a scare when his Citroën DS3 R3T suffered engine issues on the return from scrutineering.

But PH Sport team mechanics worked to replace the power plant and the Emirati was able to continue.

Al Attiyah is looking forward to the weekend immensely.

“The stages here are fantastic. They are some of the best in the world they are technical and demand a lot from the driver” he said.

“I’m here to win and I want to equal Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s record of 60 wins. We saw many spectators even on the recce. They have a huge understanding and knowledge of rallying. It is in their culture.”

“I am trying to win here as well” said Abdulaziz Al Kuwari. “This is different to the other rounds of the championship. We had some rain before the event but the organisers have done an excellent job in repairing the roads and removing the big rocks.

There will be six special stages today starting with the first of two runs through the Rusayl stage from 09.58hrs.

Attention then switches to stages at Misfah and Saal from 10.26hrs and 10.59hrs and the three are repeated in the afternoon at 13.27hrs 13.55hrs and 14.27hrs after a service stop and regroup at the OAA. The event is due to finish tomorrow.

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