The Oman Rally Team’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud held a comfortable 5min 23.2sec lead after six more gravel stages of the Oman International Rally on Friday.
The 2021 winner was second fastest on each of the quick, flowing gravel tests in his Škoda Fabia Evo, despite a flat tyre on the opener, and goes into the final day well placed for his second ever FIA Middle East Rally Championship round win.
I am very happy with how the day went. We knew that Nasser would need to push very hard from the start and it was just a case of focusing on our job in hand and keeping our concentration. The rear puncture was not the best of starts but we recovered well and now the outcome is in our hands on the final day.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
After crashing on Thursday’s super special, Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel began a daunting climb from 13th overall.
They won every stage of the day, but their progress was badly hit when the Stewards imposed a second penalty of five minutes and a suspended fine on the Volkswagen crew for a seat belt violation on the super special. The Qatari reached the night halt seventh overall, 11min 27.4sec behind the leader.
Czech pairing Petr Kačirek and Petra Řiháková are second in their Duck Racing Škoda Fabia. Overnight leaders Meshari Al-Thefiri of Kuwait and his Qatari co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari are just 16.6 seconds behind in third and 13.5 seconds clear of their closest MERC2 rivals, fourth-placed Omanis Abdullah Al-Zubair and Taha Soomar.
Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan and co-driver Nancy Al-Majali completed the top five after continuing technical problems dropped Qatar’s Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Italian Giovanni Bernacchini to eighth on the afternoon loop.
Jordan’s Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez holds a slender grip on sixth with Al-Attiyah closing from seventh, while Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Dhefiri and Jordan’s Ihab Al-Shorafa complete the top 10.
National rally
Issa Abu Jamous had been moved to the national category after falling foul of a fire extinguisher regulation at scrutineering, but the Jordanian made the most of his trip, leading the Oman National Rally with co-driver Yazan Juma by 6min 01.7sec after seven stages.
Faisal and Yaqdhan Al-Rashdi were second in a Subaru Impreza STi, with Ghaith Al-Qasmi and Ahmed Salim third in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII. Overnight second-placed Saif Al-Harthy retired after the third stage, followed soon after by Musab Soomar, Salim Al-Toqi and Haitham Al-Zadjali.
Friday as it happened
Al-Attiyah faced one of his toughest challenges if he was to win in Oman for an eighth time. Ten minutes behind heading into the 21.98km Al-Khoud stage, he responded by beating Al-Rawahi by 63 seconds and gaining 1min 56.7sec on former leader Al-Thefiri.
Al-Rawahi suffered a rear right puncture but still moved into the lead on a stage where Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled lost more than 10 minutes with his own tyre problems.
Al-Rawahi hit back in Jafnein (19.54km), where Al-Attiyah clawed back only 4.4 seconds. The Qatari gained another five on the final stage of the loop at Saal and returned to midday service at the Oman Automobile Association (OAA) 8min 42.9sec behind, having climbed above Ihab Al-Shorafa into 11th.
Al-Atya, Al-Thefiri, Kačirek and Al-Zubair completed the top five, and Zakariya Al-Aamri retired his Subaru with technical trouble.
Al-Attiyah was 15.2 seconds faster on his second run through Al-Khoud and cut another 1min 27.9sec from the leader’s advantage to 7min 15sec. Al-Atya lost a couple of minutes and fell to fourth behind Al-Rawahi, Al-Thefiri and Kačirek.
Al-Attiyah climbed to seventh, but the extra five-minute penalty for the first-stage seat belt violation dropped him back to ninth.
He recovered another 22.9 seconds in SS6 to head into the last stage of the day 11min 52.1sec behind Al-Rawahi. Kačirek, Al-Thefiri, Al-Zubair and Jweihan completed the top five after Al-Atya dropped back with ongoing technical problems.
Another fastest time in SS7 took Al-Attiyah back to the night halt in seventh overall, 11min 27.4sec behind Al-Rawahi.
Saturday
The rally ends with two more loops of three gravel stages. The Mulaynah test (15.86km) starts the day at 09.18hrs, followed by the 19.65km Misfah special from 09.51hrs and the first run through Murayrat (21.97km) from 10.29hrs.
After a regroup and service at the OAA, the three stages are repeated from 13.22hrs, 13.55hrs and 14.33hrs, before the podium finish at the Muscat Drift Arena later in the afternoon.