Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) officials have made late changes to the route of this weekend’s Qatar International Rally, round two of the 2023 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).
Heavy rain fell across the region throughout January, and two and a half days of rain in recent days caused localised flooding and standing water in the northern Qatar deserts. With several sections of the route under water, two special stages have been modified.
Ras Laffan in the north, used as stages three and six on Friday, has been shortened slightly to 15.44km, while Saturday’s Umm Birka special (SS10 and 13) will now run for 24.57km. The competitive distance therefore drops from 209.69km to 209.13km in a total route of 615.20km.
Low-lying fog has been common in the mornings recently, and a couple of days of stable sunshine are forecast before the start. Cooler and much windier conditions are then expected for the weekend, especially for Friday and Saturday’s two days of desert action.
Scandinavian stars arrive
International stars Mads Østberg, Andreas Mikkelsen and Emil Lindholm have arrived in Doha to prepare for reconnaissance, with Mikkelsen and Lindholm competing in Qatar for the first time. Østberg and Lindholm carried out a short shakedown in their SRT Škodas in the desert on Tuesday morning.
This is my first time here in Qatar and it is quite a new experience for me. I have never done rallying in similar conditions. It is a lot different from the Finnish conditions I am used to. We will try to do our best. The competition is, for sure, high with Nasser pushing hard and Mads and Andreas. It will be very interesting to see….
Emil Lindholm
Prévot joins Sadoon Al-Kuwari
Veteran Sadoon Al-Kuwari, celebrating his 40th year in motor sport, has confirmed that experienced Belgian co-driver Stéphane Prévot will partner him in a QMMF-backed Volkswagen Polo GTI.
The 54-year-old Belgian has contested 178 WRC rallies alongside drivers such as Bruno Thiry, François Duval, Chris Atkinson, Stéphane Lefebvre and Henning Solberg, scoring 17 podium finishes. His last WRC event was in Sardinia last year, and he has worked with many factory teams since his WRC debut on the 1989 Lombard RAC Rally in the UK.
Prévot previously partnered Sadoon’s son Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari in Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and Dubai during the 2010 FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
Al-Attiyah’s car rebuilt
Defending regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah’s car came to Qatar straight from the Sultanate of Oman at the end of January. The Volkswagen Polo GTI was significantly damaged during his recovery from a first-stage crash to third overall there, so Autotek Motorsport technicians arrived early to carry out a full rebuild at the Lusail service park. The team ran a short shakedown on Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday, competitors from 14 nations will reconnoitre the desert stages before selected crews attend scrutineering at the Lusail Sports Arena in the evening.
The rally starts from its spectacular new location on Al-Maha Island on Thursday evening from 19.00hrs, before the opening 3.27km super special gets the competition under way at the LCSC Karting Academy from 20.00hrs.