LUSAIL (Qatar): Nasser Saleh al Attiyah saw off a fierce first day challenge from Norwegian rival Mads Ostberg to lead the Qatar International Rally after seven special stages.
The Qatari won four of the day’s speed tests in his Autotek Volkswagen Polo GTI and overcame a lunchtime deficit of 4.2 seconds to take a 8.1-second advantage into the night halt in Lusail. The 16-time event winner and his Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel stayed clear of trouble and tyre issues and will need to defend their advantage from first place on the road on Saturday.
The Qatari said: “We keep the same plan and tried to make no mistake and push in the afternoon. We did a good job. We need to keep this pace tomorrow. I am happy. To race the top drivers in Europe, you need to have a good pace. This is a new race for Andreas and Emil, but Mads has been here before. Tomorrow, it will be longer and a little bit more rough.”
Ostberg teamed up with Sweden’s Patrik Barth and was able to call upon the experience he gained last year. He won stages three and four but punctured in the first speed test after the regroup and was somewhat disappointed to be so far behind after the second loop.
Ostberg said: “The plan this year was not to lead after day one but I would like to be closer. I didn’t purposely give him eight seconds. But we had a puncture on the first stage (SS5) after service and we, maybe, dropped 10 seconds. It was not ideal. On the last, he was very fast. I tried to regain a bit of time but I couldn’t. We are happy with the day. I have to say that it is according to plan but three or four seconds more would be perfect. It’s a long day tomorrow and I don’t think those few seconds will be as important at the end of the day. I wanted to be behind Nasser to see his lines and see where he is going. I didn’t want to end up in the same situation as last year where I was opening the line and he can follow me!”
The Norwegian pairing of Andreas Mikkelsen and Torstein Eriksen soon realised that high-speed desert rallying was not going to be a walk in the park, although a third stage puncture and a lack of confidence with the tyres hindered the 2021 FIA WRC2 champion. He ended the day in third.
Mikkelsen added: “We did better driving than the first loop. I was a bit too careful in the dips. The second loop was better. I think it’s more the stability (of the tyres). They are on Michelin and their soft is harder than this one. We will try that tomorrow some harder tyres. It should be better.”
Like his SRT Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo team-mate, Finland’s Emil Lindholm had an early wake-up call to the pace needed to achieve success in Qatar. He relished the challenge with co-driver Reeta Hamalainen and has taken a lot of information on board heading into the final day. The 2022 FIA WRC2 champion is fourth, 20 seconds behind Mikkelsen.
The first of two Qatari-Irish pairings, Abdulaziz al Kuwari and Lorcan Moore, overcame a morning misfire to regain fifth place during the afternoon. They head into the final day just 6.5 seconds ahead of Khalid al Suwaidi and Niall Burns, with both crews looking far more confident after the afternoon’s loop of stages.
Veteran Nasser Khalifa al Atya held seventh with Italy’s Giovanni Bernacchini in his new Ford Fiesta R5.
The eighth-placed multiple Merc2 champion Meshari al Thefiri and his Qatari co-driver Nasser al Kuwari dominated the Merc2 category again and returned to Lusail with a commanding 4min 04.5sec lead over fellow Kuwaiti Yousef al Dhafeeri and his Lebanese co-driver Carlos Hanna. Qatar’s Abdullah al Rabban and Emirati co-driver Hassan Ali Obaid rounded off the top 10 and held third in Merc2.
Mechanical issues side-lined Jordan’s Sheikh Bader al Fawaz and Lebanon’s Shadi Sheban on the fifth stage.
AL RAWAHI PULLS OUT
Two loops of three stages got underway with the 16.15 km of the Al Khor stage. Blustery weather conditions had set in on Thursday and Friday morning was no exception. The saving grace was the fact it alleviated many of the dust issues on the stages.
Al Attiyah opened the scoring in the teeth of a strong northerly wind with a target time of 8min 11sec. He managed to beat Lindholm by 14.2 seconds, Ostberg by 2.2 and Mikkelsen by seven to snatch an outright lead of 0.3sec. Al Suwaidi got the better of Al Kuwari and Oman's Abdullah al Rawahi to hold fourth place, while Al Thefiri snatched the Merc2 advantage with the fastest time.
Lindholm, Al Rawahi, Al Suwaidi and Al Kuwari held fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh overall and ninth-placed Al Thefiri led Merc2. Tyre wear was an issue for many drivers, although Al Kuwari also complained about a niggling misfire.
Al Attiyah headed into the re-run of Al Khor determined to overcome the 4.2-second deficit and the Qatari shaved 3.4 seconds off his morning’s run, comfortably outpacing Lindholm in the process.
Mikkelsen also improved on his earlier pass but still ceded a further 5.6 seconds to Al Attiyah, while Ostberg was 1.6 seconds slower than his morning’s time and Al Attiyah regained an outright lead of three seconds.
Merc series leader Abdullah al Rawahi stopped close to the finish with suspension and differential issues and lost fifth position. Engine damage is substantial and the Omani will not restart on Saturday.
Jordan’s Sheikh Bader al Fayez also succumbed to technical issues and lost second place behind Al Thefiri in Merc2. Shadi Shaban retired with mechanical woes.
Al Attiyah was not to be denied the overnight headlines and the 16-time former event winner delivered another stunning drive to maintain his overall advantage with the quickest time in stage seven. The Volkswagen Polo GTI driver headed to the night halt with a lead of 8.1 seconds.
Ostberg was his closest challenger in second place and Mikkelsen and Lindholm were third and fourth. Qatari veteran Sadoon al Kuwari fell foul of late power steering problems.
2023 Qatar International Rally – positions after SS7
1. Nasser Saleh al Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (AND) Volkswagen Polo GTI 51min 53.2sec
2. Mads Ostberg (NOR)/Patrik Barth (SWE) Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo 52min 01.3sec
3. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)/Torstein Eriksen (NOR) Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo 52min 54.8sec
4. Emil Lindholm (FIN)/Reeta Hamalainen (FIN) Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo 53min 14.8sec
5. Abdulaziz al Kuwari (QAT)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo 55min 06.7sec
6. Khalid al Suwaidi (QAT)/Niall Burns (IRL) Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo 55min 13.2sec
7. Nasser Khalifa al Atya (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Ford Fiesta R5 59min 02.1sec
8. Meshari al Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser al Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 00min 11.9sec
9. Yousef al Dhafeeri (KWT)/Carlos Hanna (LEB) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 04min 16.4sec
10. Abdullah al Rabban (QAT)/Hassan Ali Obaid (ARE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 04min 26.6sec
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