November 20, 2015 – Sheikh Khalid bin Faisal Al Qassimi had a difficult start to the Dubai International Rally facing an engine problem in the first few kilometers of SS1 ending the first loop of the day in 2nd overall behind AbdulAziz Al Kuwari by 31sec. Things improved from there and Al Qassimi with co-driver Chris Patterson pushed hard and took the lead at the end.
Day one consisted of 3 special stages repeated twice (Zubaidah 21.76Km, Al Falaj 37.17Km and Shawqa 14.14Km) Al Qassimi and co-driver Chris Patterson suffered from an engine cut problem caused by a faulty gearbox sensor that prevented them from setting fastest times on the first 3 stages
Al Qassimi said: “I was surprised! We faced an engine cut whenever I was shifting up the gears. We have lost precious time”.
In the 2nd run, after changing the gearbox sensor at the service stop, Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi started to close the gap with the leader and posted the fastest time on SS4. On the next stage, the result sheet showed Al Qassimi had taken the overall lead by a comfortable margin.
Al Qassimi said: “Thanks to the technical crew, the gearbox issue was fixe successfully, we pushed hard and made it into 1st. We have changed the set up and used soft tires in order to achieve the goal but it was very risky to run with soft tires as it was easy to get a puncture. Then I’ve heard that our competitor had a problem on SS5 so I decided to slow down on the last stage to keep the lead. Tomorrow we will drive with a balanced rhythm and see how the rally goes.”
Bad luck for ADR junior drivers on the 1st run of the day but they finished the day inside the top 10. Mohamed Al Mutawaa/Stephen McAuley were leading the 2WD class until SS3 where they had a puncture in the front right tire costing them 2 minutes and they dropped from 6th position to 11th overall and 3rd in 2WD class behind Saeed Bintowq/Allan Harryman. Mansour Belhelei and Khalid Al Kendi took the lead from Al Mutawaa but they faced a problem in the intercom system and a broken rear suspension.
In the 2nd run, Al Mutawaa retook the lead in his class and 7th overall ahead of Bintouq 8th and Belhelei in 9th.
Dubai Rally consists of 12 timed stages over two days, the competitive length of the rally is approximately 255 km, an increase of about 15 km from 2014, but the total distance of the rally will be almost 969 kms when the liaison sections are included. The ceremonial finish will take place in Meydan Saturday 17:00.
Provisional Overall Classification – Day1
1 SHK AL QASSIMI K. 1:07:29.8
2 AL KUWARI A. 1:09:14.7 +1:44.9
3 SHK AL QASSIMI A. 1:09:39.5 +2:09.7
4 AL SUWAIDI K. 1:10:05.4 +2:35.6
5 AL KETBI R. 1:11:10.2 +3:40.4
6 NASSAR N. 1:17:51.2 +10:21.4
7 AL MUTAWAA M. 1:20:00.9 +12:31.1
8 BIN TOWQ S. 1:21:23.3 +13:53.5
9 BEL HELEI M. 1:21:24.5 +13:54.7
10 SHK AL QASSIMI M. 1:26:11.8 +18:42.0