Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah overcame the toughest challenge of his career at the Qatar International Rally to win his home event for a 16th time and reach a remarkable 80 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) victories since 2003.
In his usual Autotek Volkswagen Polo GTI, Al-Attiyah only took the lead on the eighth of 12 gravel stages and survived a front puncture on stage nine to build his advantage over the last three. Mads Østberg pushed him until the penultimate stage, but Al-Attiyah held on and won by 4min 38.4sec after the Norwegian retired.
It was co-driver Mathieu Baumel’s 28th MERC win and fifth in Qatar, and Al-Attiyah’s 80th win as a driver matched the total French legend Sébastien Loeb reached last month in the FIA World Rally Championship.
It is a good feeling. I am really happy to win Qatar Rally. This is my home and in front of my people. This was not an easy race. It was tricky. The pace that we did from yesterday to today, me and Kris and Mads, was very hard. This was a fantastic win. I was trying to keep one pace. It was amazing.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Østberg and Ilka Minor took the fight to Al-Attiyah, led overnight and extended their lead on the first stage of the morning. The Norwegian then lost a few seconds when he went off course in stage eight, and a rear puncture cost him the lead before the regroup. He chased hard in the afternoon, but a heavy impact in the penultimate stage damaged his Škoda Fabia R2 evo, broke a pipe causing a water leak and stopped the former FIA WRC2 World Champion close to the finish.
Al-Rawahi and Meeke complete podium
Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi stayed patient and out of trouble as chaos unfolded around him. He and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud were rewarded with a superb second place in their Oman Rally Team Škoda Fabia R2 evo and valuable points.
Quite happy. The guys in front were pushing too much and a few of them had technical problems. I was trying to be clean and take advantage of anyone who made mistakes. Overall, on the second day, the times were quite close and I am happy with my performance. It was really important that we finished second.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
Andorra-based Ulsterman Kris Meeke and co-driver Chris Patterson led after two stages on Friday before rolling out of contention on stage four. Meeke climbed from fifth to third on the final day and overcame a damper problem on the last loop to regain third and the final podium place.
Normally I like to be at the races. We were early on but I made that silly mistake on stage four. The speed was good all weekend. We had an issue at the rear to carry through the final stages, so we had to take it easy. Anything can happen here. We saw Nasser had his issues but still got through. He has proven why he is the king of the desert.
Kris Meeke
No idea about the future at this stage. I am doing my testing with Škoda at the moment, the new R5. That is keeping me busy. As far as rallies are concerned, I have no idea but I would love to do more in the Middle East. You just learn so much. It is so unique and different. I learned more than I did last year. To beat this man (Nasser) on this terrain is nearly mission impossible.
Kris Meeke
Transmission trouble ended Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari’s hopes of a podium, while a broken wheel hub forced Khaled Al-Suwaidi out from fifth.
Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri dominated MERC2 in his fourth-placed Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. He and co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari won the category by 11min 56.5sec from Oman’s Zakariya and Mohammed Al-Aamri.
Jordan’s Issa Abu Jamous passed compatriot Ihab Al-Shorafa on the final loop when the latter had tyre problems, and they finished sixth and seventh. Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Attiyah was eighth and Germany’s Edith Weiss ninth.
Ahmed and Firas Allouh survived a dramatic first day of the Qatar National Rally to beat their Qatari Can-Am rivals Ahmad Al-Muhannadi and Mubarak Al-Khelaifi. Lebanon’s Kahy lost 17 minutes on the first run through Umm Birka and finished third.
Saturday as it happened
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya had hoped to restart under Rally2 rules, but his engine had been damaged in Friday’s first-stage incident. This only emerged after repairs, when the team ran the Ford Fiesta R5 in a short test at Losail.
Østberg had the extra task of opening the road on the 14.50km Al-Waab stage between Al-Mashrab and Umm Al-Qahab village. The Norwegian was in brilliant form, and a time of 6min 42.9sec at an average of 133.3km/h stretched his lead over Al-Attiyah to 16.9 seconds.
Meeke was third fastest and passed Al-Suwaidi for fourth, just 4.1 seconds behind third-placed Al-Kuwari. Al-Thefiri’s MERC2 lead grew to 7min 00.1sec, helped by an overnight 1min 20sec penalty for Al-Aamri.
The rally’s longest stage, Umm Birka (24.54km), ran through the north-eastern deserts of Al-Khor municipality. Østberg avoided the hazards of the stony ground to clock 11min 07.8sec, but lost 7.6 seconds to a hard-pushing Al-Attiyah, who cut the gap to 9.3 seconds.
Khaled Al-Suwaidi stopped with reported suspension damage, promoting Abdullah Al-Rawahi to fifth. Meeke was third fastest again and closed to within 3.4 seconds of Al-Kuwari’s third place.
Ras Laffan, better known as the main hub of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas industry, hosted the 21.33km ninth stage. Al-Attiyah won his second stage in a row and moved 9.6 seconds ahead of Østberg as crews returned to Losail for regroup and mid-loop service. Both picked up flat tyres midway through, Østberg with a delaminated rear left and Al-Attiyah wrecking a wing panel with a front-right flat. Meeke was second fastest, just 3.6 seconds slower, and moved up to third.
What can I say? It seems to delaminate on the high speed. We had to go more than half the stage (SS9) like that. We were fastest on the first one and then we got lost on the second one. That happens. We lost only seven seconds and we know where we lost it. Just the last one, it was a shame. The game is still on. It’s rough out there today, I guess punctures will finally make the result. We will see. Hopefully we can avoid any more issues.
Mads Østberg
The first stage in the morning we were really careful. We lost four seconds and then we really pushed and took a lot of risks. The last one, in the middle of the stage, we have a flat tyre on the front and we carry on. We were lucky because Mads also had the same. We take 18 seconds. It was good, but it was very hard. We try to keep going like this. Still nine seconds and three stages. It’s still everything open.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
We changed the springs on the car overnight and the mechanics didn’t fit something properly. I wasn’t sure if the suspension was perfect and fitted correctly. So I had to take care in the first couple, but it seemed fine. I knew today that Nasser was going to be so strong. These stages, there are not so many junctions and you have to thread your way through the desert. This is why he is the champion of the desert. Both have been very lucky and that’s why I backed off a bit today. I knew it was going to be a big battle. I said, let the fireworks happen up front. I made my mistake yesterday. It’s a bit frustrating. We are 1min 34 off the lead and we dropped 1min 30 yesterday. That’s life. That’s rallying.
Kris Meeke
No way to keep Meeke behind me. We have to be logical. I have to keep going and finish the rally. No championship and nothing to worry about. Just finish the rally. I hope I don’t have to wait one year more to drive. I’m much faster than what I am doing now. They are always in the cars. The last two stages I had a sound on the fifth gear. There is a noise and I hope nothing is broken. Let’s do three more stages and finish the rally.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari
Østberg needed a clean run through Al-Waab 2 and improved by 3.5 seconds, but Al-Attiyah set a stunning time to beat him by 7.4 seconds and extend his lead to 17 seconds.
Behind them, Al-Kuwari had been concerned about the gearbox at service, but the team chose not to change it; the transmission failed on the stage and put the disappointed Qatari out. Meeke lost more than three and a half minutes with damper problems and dropped behind Al-Rawahi.
Al-Attiyah won again through Umm Birka and went to the final stage at Ras Laffan 25.7 seconds ahead. Meeke, still with damper trouble, lost another 20.5 seconds to Al-Rawahi.
Østberg never reached Ras Laffan: a heavy impact in SS11 had damaged the car, a water pipe came loose and he stopped on the road section. That lifted Al-Rawahi to second and Meeke back onto the podium.
Al-Attiyah eased off over the final kilometres to take a comfortable 16th Qatar win, with Al-Rawahi and Meeke completing the podium; Meeke set fastest time on the last stage.
The 2022 FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues in Kuwait on March 17th-19th.
Positions after SS12 (unofficial)
- 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (AND) Volkswagen Polo GTI 1hr 44min 44.5sec
- 2. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMN)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R2 evo 1hr 49min 22.9sec
- 3. Kris Meeke (AND)/Chris Patterson (IRL) Škoda Fabia R2 evo 1hr 50min 51.5sec
- 4. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 08min 19.3sec
- 5. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMN)/Mohammed Al-Aamri (OMN) Subaru Impreza 2hr 20min 15.8sec
- 6. Issa Abu Jamous (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 28min 50.2sec
- 7. Ihab Al-Shorafa (JOR)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 29min 53.3sec
- 8. Mohammed Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Savvas Laos (CYP) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 32min 48.3sec
- 9. Edith Weiss (QAT)/Serena Mattivi (ITA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 34min 32.9sec
Fourteen crews started and nine finished. Nationalities are given by competition licence, as the regulations require.