This year he comes with the ultimate desire to win ROL. He has been all over the world doing some great results. Nasser Al-Attiyah is your model for a professional athlete. A racing champion, an Olympian and a humble man. Enjoy this interview ahead of one of the most expected tough battles in Rally of Lebanon history.
This year has been full of ups and downs in terms of results but not in terms of performance. How is your season so far after the big blow you had in WRC Jordan?
Well things started before WRC Jordan with Rally Mexico where we won the rally but we were disqualified due to a technical problem. We came to Jordan with some big ambitions and we topped the standing and we also had some good pace compared to the WRC cars. At the final day the engine blew and we retired so our chances in the championship disappeared. At rally Sardinia we had some mechanical problems, so it wasn’t really working as we should. Anyway thank God as you said earlier the pace is there and we will continue fighting.
Thank God we started the year with a big win in Dakar, and 3 other rallies in the Middle East and we are aiming to win ROL 2011, since as you it’s the only MERC event that I haven’t won before.
You are coming back to ROL after some long time away…
Well yeas but I come better equipped and motivated. We did a test in Arjes and as you said in our previous conversation you talked about the line. We have big improvements as you can see.
We had a very tough test. It was very professional without any mistakes and we tried every single piece in the car. We tried the setup. We tried the tyres. We ran for 55 KM on the tyres to see their durability. Things look 100% ready we hope that we will be able to clinch the win.
In the test at Arjes, we saw that you were the first on the road, and the last to leave. You were also the person with the most runs. What’s the secret behind this although you are a world champion?
We have our plan. We need to benefit in every minute and second. The team planned everything. When to start and when to relax and when to leave. It was very well organized and planned. We reviewed all the rallies we did on tarmac earlier to see where we benefit. We also revised our work. We started early in the morning and then had a brief lunch break and later on we continued until late in the afternoon. We changed a lot of things in the car.
We saw you riding alongside you mechano, why?
I had the suspension engineer with me. He should have a feel for the car to see what to do. He is very good and I have been working with him since 2003. He comes from the “Rigar” factory where I always do the development for my suspension. They did the latest suspension modification for me. My engineer told me that is the suspension “06” for the Fiesta s2000.
He was happy with the performance in the car although he didn’t expect it.
After that I rode alongside the Engineer who is responsible for the computer and the engine. This engineer is the brain of this car. He did his final touch and he was very glad. Anyway it was our first time with this engineer. He was with double world champion Marcus Gronholm earlier and now he is working with Ott Tanak in WRC.
Roger is very dominant on the roads of the Rally of Lebanon. Has a lot of experience and his pace is unmatched. Some claim that your car is faster. How much can you challenge him?
We cannot say that I have the faster car. Roger has the R4 kit which was designed in order to challenge the S2000. Roger has the advantage of driving on his home roads. He has done a lot of testing and he is ready. But, as I told you before you cannot compare Nasser Al Attiyah 2008 with Nasser Al Attiyah 2011. There is a big difference, and we have studied a lot how to tackle this rally. I will be having fun and even Abdo Feghali is participating in the rally. There is also Nick Georgiou and Amiouni so there will be a tough battle. I will take every single opportunity to win. If I was able to do the difference at night it will be good.
So how do you find the night stages in general?
They are very challenging but in the past couple of years, I have been practicing a lot of driving at night. I have participated in the 24 hours of Nurburgring. We driver for 9 laps and each lasp is around 25 km nonstop at night. In Lebanon for example I always use my road car while driving at night and it also give you a good feel. The roads in the country are very difficult and they are very dark. I am preparing myself and let’s hope all goes well.
How much will you separate your desire of winning ROL from situation in the MERC championship?
First my desire to win ROL is very big and has much more importance than the MERC. If I didn’t win in Lebanon, I will try to strengthen my situation in the MERC championship. Honestly though I will be aiming to win both.
Let’s switch the conversation more into next year. What happened with VW regarding Dakar and what will be your choice?
I have made a decision regarding Dakar next year. VW will not participate in Dakar but they have shifted to WRC. They offered me a seat in WRC for 3 years but because of my sponsor Barwa, I can afford to keep doing Dakar. We are studying a project to drive the X-Raid cars in the rally. We hope to be able to close the deal soon and start preparing to defend our title.
Will the X-Raid provide with good machinery to win Dakar just like the VW?
You cannot compare. The VW is a factory team while the X-Raid is a customer team. The experience is there and we will treat the car as a manufacturer’s car and try to retain the title as we said.
Autosport.com published an article stating that your are in negotiations with Citroen to driver a WRC car next year in a project similar to the Abu Dhabi project with Ford. How much is this true?
This is my target for next year. It was a small idea and went into a study. We thought that Qatar should be a partner with one of the big manufacturers and Citroen is the biggest one. As you know Citroen has a lot of sponsorship deals but our aim to have 3 WRC cars with the Qatar flag on them. We will try to sponsor the cars driven by Ogier and Loeb and have a car for me to drive.
Thank you for this engaging interview, we really appreciate it.
This is something that makes me happy to be able to be here in Lebanon. I have not been able to relax for a while being all the time in the plane. Next year I also have the Olympic Games and its hectic.
So what do you promise us in the Olympics?
I want to win the gold medal for sure. This is my fifth Olympic games and this is a record. Let’s hope all goes well and thanks you again.
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