Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and German co-driver Timo Gottschalk cruised through the third and final stage to claim a one-sided victory in the 2011 Saudi Arabian Ha’il Desert Challenge, held across the An Nafud desert in the north-central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Qatari driver began the third 214km Dlehan stage with a lead of over 20 minutes and reached the finish 16 minutes in front of the UAE driver Ali Hassan Obaid to take victory in Ha’il by the massive winning margin of 45m 54.6s from the Saudi Toyota driver Mtair Al-Shammery and his co-driver Moteb Al-Shammery.
“The desert stages here are fantastic and I always enjoy coming to this rally,” enthused a relaxed Al-Attiyah at the finish. “It has been a tremendous start to the season for me with wins on the Dakar and in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Now I must switch my attention to the WRC (FIA World Rally Championship) and try and keep up the winning ways.”
Final Classification:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA)/Timo Gottschalk (D) Volkswagen Race Touareg 4h 36m 52.1s
2. Mtair Al-Shammery/Moteb Al-Shammery (KSA) Toyota Land Cruiser 5h 22m 46.7s
3. Saleh Al-Saleh (KSA)/Xavier Caminada (F) Toyota FJ Cruiser 5h 27m 27.3s
4. Ali Hassan Obaid (UAE)/Ali Hassan Al-Balooshi (UAE) Nissan Patrol 5h 32m 09.3s
5. Safah Al-Saeedi (KSA)/Mishaal Al-Saeedi (KSA) Nissan Patrol 5h 34m 08.1s
6. Yayha Al-Helai (UAE)/Abdulhaleem Bin Zayed (UAE) Nissan Patrol 5h 36m 34.6s
7. Ahmed Al-Shaqawi (KSA)/Yousef Aref (UAE) Toyota FJ Cruiser 5h 37m 38.2s
8. Saleh Al-Shudukhi (KSA)/Rashid Al-Shammeri (KSA) Nissan Patrol 5h 40m 00.9s
9. Farouk Al-Shammeri (KSA)/Saleh Al-Shammeri (KSA) Toyota Land Cruiser 5h 52m 50.8s
10. Ahmed Al-Gashami (KSA)/Ali Mirza (KSA) Nissan Patrol 5h 53m 28.4s
