Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah added another chapter to his own history with a comfortable win in the Qatar International Rally.
The Qatari and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel managed their pace perfectly over the closing stages, bringing their Autotek Motorsport Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 home 1min 48.4sec ahead of Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and his new Irish co-driver James Fulton.
It was Al-Attiyah’s record 15th victory in Qatar and a record-breaking 77th MERC win in the 218-event history of the series. Baumel took his 26th regional rally win on the 41st running of the Qatar event, moving past Chris Patterson and Giovanni Bernacchini in the Hall of Fame. He now has Ronan Morgan’s record of 41 wins in his sights.
Today we did a really good job. Leg one was a nice fight between me and Kris Meeke. It was (becoming) a nice race but when Kris get out from the race it was an easy day for us today. It was great to have some high level in the Qatar Rally. If you look this year we had seven R5s. It was an amazing race. Thanks to the QMMF. I hope to continue in this level for this championship and this year.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Al-Kuwari won three of the second day’s six stages in his Tok Sport Škoda Fabia R5 and was happy with second after only occasional rally outings in recent seasons. Khalid Al-Suwaidi and navigator Hugo Magalhães completed a Qatari 1-2-3.
No day two for Meeke
Hopes of a final-day battle between Al-Attiyah and visiting WRC star Kris Meeke ended when the Ulsterman could not restart after his team found engine damage on his SRT Škoda Fabia R5, sustained on stage five.
Unfortunately no day two for us. On the last stage on Saturday, quite close to the finish, there were some waves (bumps) and I was on a similar line to my first pass in the morning. But the car skipped and landed nose on the next dip. This damaged the front bumper and took the water pipe off the radiator. That put an end to our rally. I really enjoyed the experience. It’s a different kind of rallying here. It’s a bit like a jigsaw puzzle and to try to work it out is a challenge enough.
Kris Meeke
The rest of the field
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Lebanese co-driver Georges Nader gave Qatar another driver in the top four, and Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri began his MERC 2 title defence in style, winning the showroom category and finishing fifth overall in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.
FIA T4 cars are allowed on the gravel rounds of the series this season, and Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al-Saif showed the Can-Am Maverick X3 is competitive, setting a fifth-fastest stage time on his way to a superb sixth place.
Qatar’s Rashid Al-Mohannadi and Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aufi were seventh and eighth, with Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled ninth. Rally newcomer Sheikh Suhaim Al-Thani retired his Škoda R5 before the last stage, missing a likely top-10 finish.
Oman’s Zakariya Al-Amri completed the top 10, and Lebanon’s Henry Kahy took maximum MERC 3 points for two-wheel-drive cars with another measured drive to 11th in his Škoda Fabia 1.6. Eleven of the 17 starters finished.
The Qatar National Rally was a three-way fight between Ahmed and Khalid Al-Mohannadi and Ahmed Allouh, who each won a stage on the morning loop. Time delays cost Allouh later on, and Khalid Al-Mohannadi won by 8min 32.7sec after problems for his rivals. Lebanon’s Jad Al-Aawar retired before the end of the morning loop.
How the final day unfolded
Al-Attiyah started the remaining six stages 1min 40.6sec ahead of Al-Kuwari. Ahmad Khaled and Al-Thani both received one-minute penalties for route violations, the latter losing a place. Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi confirmed before the restart that exhaust sensor issues had forced him out too.
Al-Attiyah posted the target time of 9min 47.1sec on the 18.30km Al-Khor opener, though Al-Kuwari was fastest by 0.7 seconds. Al-Thani dropped to ninth after losing over five minutes, and the stage ended Kuwaiti Jassim Al-Muqahwi’s rally with engine problems.
A cautious Al-Attiyah clocked 11min 11.2sec on the new seventh stage, but Al-Kuwari won again by six seconds to cut the gap to 1min 33.9sec. Al-Saif was fifth fastest and moved up to sixth at Al-Aufi’s expense, while losing over 12 minutes pushed Al-Thani down to 10th. A fastest time put Ahmed Allouh 24.6 seconds ahead in the National Rally.
Fourteen cars were still running as Al-Attiyah tackled the new Ras Laffan stage in the north-east of Qatar, where a time of 11min 59.0sec regained 6.8 seconds. Al-Kuwari stretched his lead over Al-Suwaidi to 51.6 seconds before the midday regroup and service at Losail.
Al-Attiyah was 0.8 seconds faster than Al-Kuwari on the second pass through Al-Khor and 8.5 seconds clear of him, extending his lead to 1min 49.2sec. Mohamed Al-Attiyah retired at the midday halt, and Shadi El-Fakih went OTL with electrical issues and a fuel pump failure.
Al-Attiyah took 1.1 seconds off his morning time through the QMMF stage but conceded the stage win to Al-Kuwari. The leaders held station to the final stage at Ras Laffan, where there was no late drama: Al-Attiyah’s stage win sealed his 15th Qatar victory, with Al-Kuwari and Al-Suwaidi completing the podium.
The event was held under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, senior committee member Abdulrazaq Al-Kuwari and QMMF Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad. The FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues with the Oman International Rally at the end of February.