MUSCAT: The Oman Rally Team’s Abdullah al Rawahi and Jordanian co-driver Ata al Hmoud held a comfortable lead of 5min 23.2sec after a further six gravel stages of the Oman International Rally on Friday.
The 2021 event winner was second quickest on each of the fast and flowing gravel speed tests in his Skoda Fabia Evo, despite a flat tyre on the opener, and heads into the final day well placed to win his second ever round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
“I am very happy with how the day went,” said Al Rawahi. “We knew that Nasser would need to push very hard from the start and it was just a case of focusing on our job in hand and keeping our concentration. The rear puncture was not the best of starts but we recovered well and now the outcome is in our hands on the final day.”
After crashing on Thursday’s super special, Nasser Saleh al Attiyah and his Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel began a daunting fightback through the field from 13th overall.
They won each of the day’s stages but progress was severely hampered when the event Stewards imposed a second penalty of five minutes and a suspended fine on the Volkswagen Golf crew for a seat belt violation that had occurred on the super special stage. The Qatari reached the night halt in seventh overall and trails the leader by 11min 27.4sec.
The Czech crew of Petr Kacirek and Petra Rihakova held second in their Duck Racing Skoda Fabia. The overnight leading Kuwaiti Meshari al Thefiri and his Qatari co-driver Nasser al Kuwari were a mere 16.6 seconds behind in third place and 13.5 seconds clear of their closest Merc2 rivals, the fourth-placed Omani crew of Abdullah al Zubair and Taha Soomar.
The Jordanian duo of Shaker Jweihan and female co-driver Nancy al Majali rounded off the top five after ongoing technical issues pushed Qatar’s Nasser Khalifa al Atya and Italian team-mate Giovanni Bernacchini down to eighth over the afternoon’s loop of stages.
Jordan’s Sheikh Bader al Fayez has a slender hold on sixth place with Al Attiyah closing in from seventh, while Kuwait’s Yousef al Dhefiri and Jordanian Ihab al Shorafa round off the top 10.
Issa Abu Jamous had dropped down to the national category after falling foul of a fire extinguisher regulation at pre-event scrutineering. But the Jordanian was making the most of his trip to the Sultanate of Oman nonetheless and he and co-driver Yazan Juma led the Oman National Rally by 6min 01.7sec after seven stages.
Faisal and Yaqdhan al Rashdi held second overall in a Subaru Impreza STi and Ghaith al Qasmi and Ahmed Salim rounded off the podium places in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII.
Overnight leader Saif al Harthy retired from second place after the third stage and he was joined by Musab Soomar, Salim al Toqi and Haitham al Zadjali on the list of non-finishers soon afterwards.
SATURDAY
Competitive action concludes with two further loops of three gravel special stages. After the opening Mulaynah (15.86km) test at 09.18hrs, the morning’s action continues with the 19.65km of the Misfah special from 09.51hrs and the first run through Murayrat (21.97km) from 10.29hrs.
A return to the OAA for a regroup and service will be followed by repeat runs through the three gravel speed tests from 13.22hrs, 13.55hrs and 14.33hrs, respectively. The podium finish will take place at the Muscat Drift Arena later in the afternoon.
2023 Oman International Rally – positions after SS7:
1. Abdullah al Rawahi (OMN)/Ata al Hmoud (JOR) Skoda Fabia Evo 1hr 18min 08.9sec
2. Petr Kacirek (CZE)/Petra Rihakova (CZE) Skoda Fabia 1hr 23min 32.0sec
3. Meshari al Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser al Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 23min 48.6sec
4. Abdullah al Zubair (OMN)/Taha Soomar (OMN) Subaru Impreza STi 1hr 24min 02.1sec
5. Shaker Jweihan (JOR)/Nancy al Majali (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 27min 28.7sec
6. Sheikh Bader al Fayez (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 28min 56.9sec
7. Nasser Saleh al Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (AND) Volkswagen Polo GTI 1hr 29min 36.2sec
8. Nasser Khalifa al Atya (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Ford Fiesta R5 1hr 29min 40.3sec
9. Yousef al Dhefiri (KWT)/Carlos Hanna (LEB) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 29min 59.4sec
10. Ihab al Shorafa (JOR)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 1hr 36min 46.4sec
2023 Oman National Rally – positions after SS7:
1. Issa Abu Jamous (JOR)/Yazan Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 1hr 30min 23.6sec
2. Faisal al Rashdi (OMN)/Yaqdhan al Rashdi (OMN) Subaru Impreza Sti 1hr 36min 25.3sec
3. Ghaith al Qasmi (OMN)/Ahmed Salim OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 1hr 37min 26.8sec
4. Mutasim al Balushi (OMN)/Nofel al Balushi (OMN) Yamaha YXZ 1000 R 1hr 40min 02.5sec
5. Abdullah al Touqi (OMN)/Ilka Minor (AUT) Toyota Yaris 1hr 40min 46.0sec
6. Mohammed al Mazroui (OMN)/Sana al Shukaili (OMN) Yamaha YXZ 1000 R 1hr 56min 25.7sec
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