Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Spanish co-driver Alba Sánchez González cruised to a huge 8min 39.5sec lead after the opening leg of Oman Rally Sohar International on Friday.
After Hamed Al-Wahaibi and Abdullah Al-Rawahi both retired, just before and during the first run through the Misfah stage, the Qatari managed his pace to protect his Autotek Volkswagen Polo GTI. He won every stage and is well on course for a seventh Oman win and a 79th career MERC victory.
Czech Petr Kačirek and Václav Kopáček reached the overnight halt second in their Duck Racing Škoda Fabia, with Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini third in a Ford Fiesta R5.
How the day unfolded
Al-Attiyah started strongly and stretched his lead over Al-Wahaibi from 3.3 to 28.2 seconds on the first pass through the 21.98km Al-Khoud stage, where Al-Wahaibi lost power near the end. The FIA field had already shrunk to eight after Oman’s Jarah Al-Touqi retired before the restart.
The lead grew to 3min 54.7sec after Misfah: Al-Rawahi stopped with heavy rear suspension damage and Al-Wahaibi retired with turbocharger trouble before the stage start, promoting Kačirek and Al-Atya to the podium places.
After the Saal stage, Al-Attiyah was five minutes clear and arrived at service relaxed. He eased off on the second run through Al-Khoud, led by 6min 44.5sec heading into the day’s last two stages and kept extending his comfortable margin.
Oman’s Zakariya and Mohammed Al-Aamri lead MERC2 in their fourth-placed Subaru Impreza, with the Jordanian crews of Issa Abu Jamous and Emad Juma and Ihab Al-Shorafa and Yousef Juma fifth and sixth overall.
Al-Wahaibi and Al-Rawahi must now regroup to restart under Rally2 rules for Saturday’s six remaining stages.
This is the fourth Oman Rally that I have retired from. I have entered four and retired from four. Three I was leading and retired because of mechanical problems. Today it was a turbo. It was an engine one time and a ball joint, one time.
Hamed Al-Wahaibi
All those retirements have been purely cruel luck and not driver mistakes. They have all been technical. I was excited for today’s stages. They were really fun and enjoyable to drive. Unfortunately, I only drove the first one. Especially through the wadi and the water splash, it was something pretty special. The car was performing well and Tony (Sircombe) was completely in sync.
Hamed Al-Wahaibi
I am obviously disappointed for the fans and the team. I am here for fun. I am back in the sport. I have no targets and just love driving fast. I adore rallying. It is passion-based, so it is not a problem.
Hamed Al-Wahaibi
Oman National Rally
Oman’s Haitham Al-Hadidi led the Oman National Rally overnight, but Haitham Al-Soomar took over in SS2, where Musab Al-Soomar retired with technical problems. Al-Soomar stayed in front in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII and ended the leg 18min 6.5sec ahead. Lebanon’s Alain Nawfal moved up to second in a T3 Yamaha YXZ 1000R after Al-Hadidi hit trouble on stage seven.
Al-Rawahi/Al-Hmoud and Al-Wahaibi/Sircombe (both Škoda Fabia) retired on SS3, and Jarah Al-Touqi/Issa Al-Wardi (Subaru) on SS2.