Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah resisted a fierce first-day challenge from Norway’s Mads Østberg to lead the Qatar International Rally after seven special stages.
The Qatari won four of the day’s stages in his Autotek Volkswagen Polo GTI and turned a 4.2-second deficit at lunchtime into an 8.1-second advantage at the night halt in Lusail. The 16-time event winner and his Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel avoided trouble and tyre problems, and will defend their lead from first on the road on Saturday.
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.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Østberg, partnered by Sweden’s Patrik Barth, drew on last year’s experience to win stages three and four, but a puncture on the first test after the regroup left him further behind than he would have liked.
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!
Mads Østberg
Norwegians Andreas Mikkelsen and Torstein Eriksen quickly discovered that high-speed desert rallying is no easy task. A third-stage puncture and a lack of confidence in the tyres held back the 2021 FIA WRC2 champion, who ended the day third.
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.
Andreas Mikkelsen
Like his SRT Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo team-mate, Finland’s Emil Lindholm had an early lesson in the pace needed in Qatar. The 2022 FIA WRC2 champion enjoyed the challenge with co-driver Reeta Hämäläinen, has gathered plenty of information for the final day, and is fourth, 20 seconds behind Mikkelsen.
The first of two Qatari-Irish crews, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Lorcan Moore, recovered from a morning misfire to regain fifth in the afternoon. They lead Khalid Al-Suwaidi and Niall Burns by just 6.5 seconds, with both crews looking much more confident after the second loop.
Veteran Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya is seventh with Italy’s Giovanni Bernacchini in his new Ford Fiesta R5.
Eighth-placed multiple MERC2 champion Meshari Al-Thefiri and his Qatari co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari dominated MERC2 again and returned to Lusail with a commanding 4min 04.5sec lead over fellow Kuwaiti Yousef Al-Dhafeeri and Lebanese co-driver Carlos Hanna. Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Rabban and Emirati Hassan Ali Obaid completed the top 10 and are third in MERC2.
Friday as it happened
Two loops of three stages began with the 16.15km Al-Khor test. The gusty weather that arrived on Thursday continued on Friday morning, although it helped reduce the dust on the stages.
Al-Attiyah opened the scoring into a strong northerly wind with a target time of 8min 11sec, beating Lindholm by 14.2 seconds, Østberg by 2.2 and Mikkelsen by seven to take the overall lead by 0.3sec. Al-Suwaidi beat Al-Kuwari and Al-Rawahi to hold fourth, and Al-Thefiri grabbed the MERC2 lead with the fastest time.
Ras Laffan, better known as the hub of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas industry, hosted the next stage. Al-Attiyah clocked 7min 46.9sec to pull a further 7.4 seconds clear of Lindholm, and Mikkelsen nursed a rear puncture to the finish, losing 20.7 seconds to the Qatari. But Østberg drew on all his experience to set the fastest time and take the overall lead by 2.6 seconds.
The 16.70km Al-Thakira stage closed the morning loop before the return to Lusail. Al-Attiyah completed the loop safely and set the benchmark, well clear of a cautious Mikkelsen, but Østberg, his nemesis all morning, took another stage win to extend his lead.
I have been driving pretty much flat out. There has been a bit of understeer and the tyre wear has been quite high. But I must be happy with the morning. It has been a good start.
Mads Østberg at the midday regroup
The front bumper was loose and the last stage it was coming off. Mads started number four and it is a bit easier for him. The road is cleaner. A little bit of issues with the wind in the corners but no problem. We push a lot, not the maximum, for the first lap just to keep the pressure.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
It’s been good. The driving has been fine. Just on the careful side overall with all the dips. It’s just so hard and different to judge from what I am used to. When it is so fast, when you lift a little bit, the time is running so much. We have just been safe. The tyre just deflated. It is quite rough in some sections. I am not sure why that happened. We were just unlucky with that. We just have to adjust the speed over some of the dips. I will go through some of my videos now and see where I can go faster.
Andreas Mikkelsen
Lindholm, Al-Rawahi, Al-Suwaidi and Al-Kuwari were fourth to seventh at the regroup, with ninth-placed Al-Thefiri leading MERC2. Tyre wear troubled many drivers, and Al-Kuwari also reported a nagging misfire.
Al-Attiyah attacked the second run through Al-Khor and comfortably outpaced Lindholm. Mikkelsen improved on his morning time but still lost a further 5.6 seconds to the Qatari, while Østberg was 1.6 seconds slower than in the morning, handing Al-Attiyah a three-second overall lead.
MERC series leader Abdullah Al-Rawahi stopped near the finish with suspension and differential problems and lost fifth place. His engine damage is substantial and the Omani will not restart on Saturday. Jordan’s Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez also hit technical problems and lost second place in MERC2 behind Al-Thefiri, and Shadi Shaban retired with mechanical trouble.
Despite a constant buffeting from the northerly wind, Al-Attiyah kept attacking in Ras Laffan, beating his morning time by seven seconds and Østberg by 2.1 to stretch his lead to 5.1 seconds. Østberg, in turn, was pulling clear of his Scandinavian rivals and led Mikkelsen by 46 seconds.
Al-Attiyah then delivered another superb drive to set the fastest time on stage seven and head to the night halt 8.1 seconds ahead. Østberg was second, with Mikkelsen and Lindholm third and fourth. Qatari veteran Sadoon Al-Kuwari was hit by late power steering problems.
Saturday
The final day features two more loops of three stages, beginning with the 15.28km Waab Al-Mashrab from 08.48hrs. Al-Waab (14.91km) follows at 09.16hrs, and the loop ends with Umm Birka, the rally’s longest stage at 24.45km, from 09.51hrs.
After a regroup and service at Lusail, the three stages are repeated at 12.43hrs, 13.11hrs and 13.46hrs, ahead of the post-event press conference (18.30hrs) and podium finish (19.00hrs) on Al-Maha Island.