The Abu Dhabi Rally team dominated the super special stage of Qatar International Rally, which was held on Qatar Corniche Thursday evening, where Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi and navigator Chris Patterson recorded a time of 1m45.8s on board their Citroen DS3 RRC. Qatari driver Nasser Al Attiyah claimed second position ahead of his compatriot Abdulaziz Alkuwari with 0.7s and 7.5s respectively from Al Qassimis’. The drivers of “Abu Dhabi Racing -Citroën Middle East Trophy” also demonstrated a great performance with last season’s Emirati 2WD and Youth champion Mohammed Al Sahlawi, who claimed first position in his category, and ninth in the overall standing, on board his Citroën DS3 R3.
“It’s an enthralling start for Abu Dhabi Racing Team” commented Al Qassimi, adding: “The super special stage required a customized driving style due to our usage of gravel terrain tyres which imposed a technical driving method to achieve the fastest time possible, and sure enough, it enabled me to win this stage to temporarily lead the rally… but the rally is still in its beginning, and we hope to continue achieving good results with the 12 more speed stages awaiting to be tackled”.
Commenting on the performance of the rookie drivers, Al Qassimi noted: “Their performance was satisfactory with few lapses, but it pleased me to see their commitment to the strategy of clearing out from hastiness and risk taking, which is a great thing since our objective is to learn and benefit from this opportunity as much as possible”.
Qatar International Rally Standings post Super Special Stag
1. Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi/Chris Patterson (Citroen DS3 RRC) 1.54.8s
2. Nasser Al Attiyah/Giovanni Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta) +0.7s
3. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari/Steve Lancaster (Ford Fiesta) +7.5s
4. Salah bin Eidan (Ford Fiesta) +8.8s
5. Yazeed Al Rajhi (Ford Fiesta) +9.8s
…
9. Mohammed Al Sahlawi/Craig Parry (Citroen DS3 R3) +16.9s