Suhar: Nasser Saleh al Attiyah and Candido Carrera romped into a massive 3min 32sec lead after seven special stages of the 28th Oman International Rally on Friday afternoon.
The Qatari won each of the day’s six gravel speed tests over challenging new terrain to the west and north of Sohar and is firmly on course for a record eighth win in the Sultanate in his Skoda Fabia RS.
Al Attiyah said: “I am happy. It was a good day. The car is working very well and Candido is doing a great job. I feel sorry for Abdulaziz (accident – SS7). We saw him out of the stage. It was 90-right and he went straight on. It was a tricky place. We see tomorrow if we slow down but there is a Power Stage also...”
Despite two punctures on the opening stage of the morning and being forced to use tyre management for the remainder of the loop, Saudi Arabia’s Rakan al Rashed and Portugal’s Hugo Magalhaes were the closest challengers in their second-placed Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2.
Al Rashed said: “I think the most important thing was to get some kilometres. It’s been a while since we have been in this championship. I think, as we have seen today, it can be really rough. We made a good decision to drive at our pace. We took it easy this afternoon. We learned our lesson this morning.”
Nasser Khalifa al Attiyah and Ziad Chehab recovered from a small setback on Thursday evening to hold an excellent third overall in their Ford Fiesta.
Defending regional champion Abdulaziz al Kuwari has opted to run a QMMF-backed Citroen C3 this season and got to grips with the new car from the outset with Irishman Lorcan Moore reading his pace notes. The Qatari held second until he misjudged a 90-right corner, went straight on at his braking point and got wedged on a low wall shortly after the start of the last stage of the day.
Before the accident, he said: “I am getting used to the car every stage. I have to trust my notes a lot but they are very good. The first time in a place like this, a lot of crests and corners. It’s not easy. I am trying to be more confident in the car. Lorcan is doing a very good job. I was talking to Nasser and he agreed that the stages are not easy.
“Citroen promised to give us support. They want one car in the Middle East. Since Khalid al Qassimi, 10 years ago, there has been no Citroen. Our boss at QMMF, Nicolas Bernardi, is from France and he suggested that we tried both cars, the Citroen and the Skoda in Europe. We did a training camp for one week before Dakar and I was happy with the car.”
A mechanical issue near the end of the first stage of the morning proved costly for Abdullah al Rawahi and Ata al Hmoud. The incident damaged a rear hub and brake on the Autotek Skoda and put the Omani out of the running for a third win on his home event.
He explained: “Everything felt really good at the beginning and we were pushing. I think three or four kilometres before the end, the rear side of the car completely came off. We didn’t hit anything. We are not sure what happened. The onboards don’t show anything. Now we hope to continue, get experience and try to improve our position.”
Jordan’s Shadi Shaban and Samer Issa held fourth overall and Qatar’s Rashid al Muhannadi teamed up with Gary Mcelhinney in fifth in a Peugeot 208 Rally 4.
The Omani duo of Abdullah al Zubair and Taha al Zadjali were sixth and had control of the Merc2 category in their Subaru Impreza, despite dropping three minutes on the penultimate stage.
Jordan’s Ihab al Shorafa (Mitsubishi), Saudi Arabia’s Ibrahim al Muhanna (Can-Am), India’s Saneem Payyakkal (Ford) and Yosra Jazzar (Can-Am) rounded off a depleted top 10. Zakariya al Aufi held the first leg advantage amongst the Oman National Championship contenders.
FRIDAY – AS IT HAPPENED
Al Zubair was handed the time back that he lost with a red flag stoppage on the opening super special and the Omani climbed to seventh before the meat of the action got underway on Friday morning.
Al Attiyah made the perfect start and stormed into a 31.7-second lead over Al Kuwari on the first pass through the 23.56km of Ar-Rusays, northwest of Sohar. Al Rashed settled into third and Al Zubair moved to the front of the Merc2 field in fifth.
But Al Rawahi’s dream of a hat-trick of wins on his home event were shattered when the Omani stopped towards the end of the special with a damaged hub and brake on his Fabia RS.
Next up was the first run through Ar-Rassah (19.45km). Al Attiyah increased his lead by 11 seconds with another fastest time. Both Ahmad Khaled (accident) and Mohamed Mansoor Parol stopped near the end of the stage.
There were no changes at the head of the leaderboard as the front-runners headed to the Al Uwaynah (13.94km) stage to complete the morning’s loop. Al Attiyah beat Al Kuwari by 6.3 seconds and returned to Suhar with a lead of 49 seconds after a comfortable morning’s work.
Oman’s Zakariya al Aamri ground to a halt near the finish of the last stage of the loop and the National runners were whittled down to just three after Haitham al Zadjali joined Mus’ab al Zadjali on the list of retirements.
On Saturday, competitors will tackle two loops of the remaining three special stages before the ceremonial finish at the Suhar Entertainment Centre.
Action gets underway with a first pass through AlAkak (25.20km) at 09.18hrs and crews then tackle Yanboa (13.45km) and Misyal A’sidr (19.32km) before returning to Sohar for a midday regrouping and service. The three specials will be repeated in the afternoon before the ceremonial podium finish takes centre stage from 18.15hrs.
2025 Oman International Rally – positions after SS7 (unofficial):
1. Nasser Saleh al Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2 1hr 08min 37.1sec
2. Rakan al Rashed (SAU)/Hugo Magalhaes (PRT) Toyota Yaris Rally 2 1hr 12min 09.1sec
3. Nasser Khalifa al Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LEB) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2 1hr 21min 23.1sec
4. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 26min 18.4sec
5. Rashid al Muhannadi (QAT)/Gary Mcelhinney (IRL) Peugeot 208 Rally 4 1hr 26min 34.3sec
6. Abdullah al Zubair (OMN)/Taha al Zadjali (OMN) Subaru Impreza 1hr 32min 57.0sec
7. Ihab al Shurafa (JOR)/Ahmad Jankout (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 33min 57.8sec
8. Ibrahim al Muhanna (SAU)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T4) 1hr 37min 18.8sec
9. Saneem Payyakkal (IND)/Musa Sherif (IND) Ford Fiesta Rally 4 1hr 47min 03.4sec
10. Yosra Jazzar (SAU)/Faisal al Suwayh (SAU) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T4) 1hr 51min 26.3sec
Abdulaziz al Kuwari (QAT)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Citroen C3 Rally 2 RETIRED – SS7
Shadi El Fakih (LBN)/Joseph Kmeid (LBN) Renault Clio Rally 5 RETIRED – SS5
Zakariya al Aamri (OMN)/Mohammed al Mazroui (OMN) Subaru Impreza RETIRED – SS4
Mohamed Mansoor Parol (IND)/Lenin Joseph (IND) Subaru Impreza RETIRED – SS3
Ahmad Khaled (LEB)/Samer Sfeir (LEB) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RETIRED – SS3
Abdullah al Rawahi (OMN)/Ata al Hmoud (JOR) Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2 RETIRED – SS2
2025 Oman National Rally – positions after SS7:
1. Zakariya al Aufi (OMN)/Mutasim al Balushi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 1hr 29min 08.2sec
2. Salim al Tauqi (OMN)/Issa al Wardi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 1hr 53min 35.6sec
3. Bashar al Qassmi (OMN)/Bassam al Qassmi (OMN) Toyota Yaris 2hr 03min 22.3sec
Haitham al Zadjali (OMN)/Wail al Shaibani (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII RETIRED – SS4
Mus’ab al Zadjali (OMN)/Nasr al Qassmi (OMN) Kia Rio RETIRED – SS3
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