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Nasser Al Attiyah wins battle of pace with Sheikh Khalid
Misfer Al Marri suffers late problems but holds fifth overall place
Doha. It began a bit tight but ended just like a routine day for reigning FIA MERC champion Nasser bin Saleh al
Attiyah on Friday. The Barwa World Rally Team-backed Qatari won the crucial opening day battle with the best of the regional drivers and placed his Ford Fiesta S2000 on the top of the leaderboard in the Qtel Qatar International Rally.
A gripping fight for crucial lead was being anticipated between six times regional champion al Attiyah and World Rally Championship driver Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi, both using two of the four Super Series cars in the fray. Current runner-up Misfer al Marri of Qatar Rally Team, Rashid al Ketbi of Fazza 3, Saudi Arabian Yazeed al Rajhi and Khalid al Suwaidi were also expected to make their presence felt.
As the day progressed and the rally got hotter, only al Attiyah and Sheikh Khalid could bear the rigours of the all-gravel route and show the class they belong to. While al Rajhi and al Suwaidi joined the list of the retirements in the fourth stage, al Marri's Subaru 2009 was running as the number one among the Group N cars but it suffered problems on the final stage and lost a considerable time.
But al Attiyah is an undisputed doyen of the deserts. His brand new car also performed trouble fee on the new course after the sensor problem was repaired in the early morning. Fired by his Dakar Rally spoils last week in Argentina, he won six out of the eight Special Stages on the first day and took the control of the rally in his hands.
After the first eight Special Stages, al Attiyah now leads a trio of the United Arab Emirates drivers by on the general standings. The closest challenger to him is 2004 champion Sheikh Khalid, who won two SSs today, in the second place by 32.6 seconds. Al Ketbi is at the third place, 3 minutes and 11.2 seconds behind. He is followed by Sheikh Abdulla al Qassimi of Team Abu Dhabi. The top five was rounded by Qatari al Marri, who is 9 minutes and 37.9 seconds behind.
Out of the remaining five among the fastest 10, three were grabbed by the Qatari drivers. Jaralla al Marri and Shiekh Hamad bin Eid al Thani are at the sixth and seventh spots. Mufeed Mubarak of Kuwait is at the eight place, followed by Abdulaziz al Kuwari (Qatar) and Ahmed al Mansoori, one of the four junior drivers Team Abu Dhabi has entered in this rally.
Barring any mechanical setback on the morrow, al Attiyah looks all set to win the eighth rally at home in a row after the remaining six Special Stages are contested over a timed distance of 121.62 kms out of a total of 265.02 kms.
In first three Special Stages, al Attiyah, with Italian co-driver Givanni Bernacchini, was chased hotly by Sheikh Khalid in Ford Fiesta 2010. Al Attiyah however kept pushing himself. He improved his first Special Stage 19.22-km Nabat Lusail lead of only 1.9 seconds to 6.5 seconds over the second at Umm al Hal (12.06 kms).
Al Attiyah further distanced himself from Sheikh Khalid over the third SS - 10.79-km Al Waker. But the QMMF reversed Special Stage, the fourth one, was decisive for al Attiyah, who took a massive 21.6 seconds off the Abu Dhabhi team's prominent driver to collect an overall advantage of 32.2 seconds. He further widened it, picking the fifth SS in Nabat Lusail, when the return loop began.
Sheikh Khalid clinched the sixth and seventh stages and succeeded in reducing the margin to 27.1 seconds. But al Attiyah returned with a vengeance and took his lead back to over half a minute, winning the last stage on the menu.
Qtel Qatar International Rally - top 10 positions after day one (SS8):
Losail International Circuit, 23rd January 2010
Doha. It began a bit tight but ended just like a routine day for reigning FIA MERC champion Nasser bin Saleh al
Attiyah on Friday. The Barwa World Rally Team-backed Qatari won the crucial opening day battle with the best of the regional drivers and placed his Ford Fiesta S2000 on the top of the leaderboard in the Qtel Qatar International Rally.A gripping fight for crucial lead was being anticipated between six times regional champion al Attiyah and World Rally Championship driver Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi, both using two of the four Super Series cars in the fray. Current runner-up Misfer al Marri of Qatar Rally Team, Rashid al Ketbi of Fazza 3, Saudi Arabian Yazeed al Rajhi and Khalid al Suwaidi were also expected to make their presence felt.
As the day progressed and the rally got hotter, only al Attiyah and Sheikh Khalid could bear the rigours of the all-gravel route and show the class they belong to. While al Rajhi and al Suwaidi joined the list of the retirements in the fourth stage, al Marri's Subaru 2009 was running as the number one among the Group N cars but it suffered problems on the final stage and lost a considerable time.
But al Attiyah is an undisputed doyen of the deserts. His brand new car also performed trouble fee on the new course after the sensor problem was repaired in the early morning. Fired by his Dakar Rally spoils last week in Argentina, he won six out of the eight Special Stages on the first day and took the control of the rally in his hands.
After the first eight Special Stages, al Attiyah now leads a trio of the United Arab Emirates drivers by on the general standings. The closest challenger to him is 2004 champion Sheikh Khalid, who won two SSs today, in the second place by 32.6 seconds. Al Ketbi is at the third place, 3 minutes and 11.2 seconds behind. He is followed by Sheikh Abdulla al Qassimi of Team Abu Dhabi. The top five was rounded by Qatari al Marri, who is 9 minutes and 37.9 seconds behind.Out of the remaining five among the fastest 10, three were grabbed by the Qatari drivers. Jaralla al Marri and Shiekh Hamad bin Eid al Thani are at the sixth and seventh spots. Mufeed Mubarak of Kuwait is at the eight place, followed by Abdulaziz al Kuwari (Qatar) and Ahmed al Mansoori, one of the four junior drivers Team Abu Dhabi has entered in this rally.
Barring any mechanical setback on the morrow, al Attiyah looks all set to win the eighth rally at home in a row after the remaining six Special Stages are contested over a timed distance of 121.62 kms out of a total of 265.02 kms.
In first three Special Stages, al Attiyah, with Italian co-driver Givanni Bernacchini, was chased hotly by Sheikh Khalid in Ford Fiesta 2010. Al Attiyah however kept pushing himself. He improved his first Special Stage 19.22-km Nabat Lusail lead of only 1.9 seconds to 6.5 seconds over the second at Umm al Hal (12.06 kms).
Al Attiyah further distanced himself from Sheikh Khalid over the third SS - 10.79-km Al Waker. But the QMMF reversed Special Stage, the fourth one, was decisive for al Attiyah, who took a massive 21.6 seconds off the Abu Dhabhi team's prominent driver to collect an overall advantage of 32.2 seconds. He further widened it, picking the fifth SS in Nabat Lusail, when the return loop began.
Sheikh Khalid clinched the sixth and seventh stages and succeeded in reducing the margin to 27.1 seconds. But al Attiyah returned with a vengeance and took his lead back to over half a minute, winning the last stage on the menu.
Qtel Qatar International Rally - top 10 positions after day one (SS8):
| 1. Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah (QA)/Giovanni Bernacchini (I) Ford Fiesta S2000 | 1h 12m 21.8s |
| 2. Khalid al Qassimi (UAE)/Michael Orr (GB) Ford Fiesta S2000 | 1h 12m 54.4s |
| 3. Rashid al Ketbi (UAE)/Khalid al Kendi (UAE) Skoda Fabia S2000 | 1h 15m 33.0s |
| 4. Abdullah al Qassimi (UAE)/Steve Lancaster (GB) Subaru Impreza | 1h 19m 48.9s |
| 5. Misfer al Marri (QA)/Nicola Arena (I) Subaru Impreza | 1h 21m 59.7s |
| 6. Jaralla al Marri (QA/Jamal Fakhroo (QR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution | 1h 24m 53.5s |
| 7. Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al Thani (QA)/Yousef Mohammed (QA) Subaru Impreza | 1h 25m 59.2s |
| 8. Mufeed Mubarak (KT)/Meshal al Nejadi (KT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution | 1h 27m 54.1s |
| 9. Abdulaziz al Kuwari (QA)/Denis Giraudet (F) Subaru Impreza | 1h 28m 23.6s |
| 10. Ahmed al Mansoori (UAE)/Killian Duffy (IRL) Subaru Impreza | 1h 29m 01.9s |
Losail International Circuit, 23rd January 2010
