LUSAIL, QATAR – Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera built a commanding lead of 1min 47.3sec after six demanding gravel stages in the northeastern desert at the Qatar International Rally on Friday.
The Qatari swept the morning’s three stages and won two of the afternoon repeats in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
Very good day. We did a good job and I am happy. We had only one puncture (SS5) and the rest was good. If you have a puncture, it will be a disaster. We try to keep the pace like this afternoon. We lose two or three seconds from our pace, but I am happy.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Al-Kuwari second, punctures for the rest
Running first on the road, defending regional champion Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari took time to settle but guided his new Citroën C3 to second overnight with Lorcan Moore.
I think this is my first proper rally in the Citroën. I am very happy. It is a good car and the feeling was good. Lorcan did a very good job. It is not easy to read the roads at that speed in Qatar. I am getting confidence every kilometre. The pace is very high to be honest. Nasser’s pace is crazy high. I am really shocked when I see the stage times. Sometimes when I do almost no mistakes in a stage…I need to improve a lot. That’s all I can say…
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari
A double puncture in the morning and another on stage six wrecked Mads Østberg‘s challenge, but the Norwegian and Sergiu Itu recovered from fourth to third.
Another puncture (SS6) this afternoon. It’s going a bit wrong this time, basically. We tried to be smarter from the start and it just kicked us the other way around. I think this race is about luck or no luck sometimes. With experience, like Nasser, you can see he has no punctures. He knows what he is doing. At least, for me, it makes no difference if I am pushing or not pushing, so I might as well just go…
Mads Østberg
Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Ata Al-Hmoud suffered four punctures in total but stayed in the podium fight in fourth.
Another two punctures, four in total. I am just happy we made it back here and we are still in a good position to fight for at least second place. One puncture on the second stage of the loop, three kilometres from the end, and the other was on the last stage.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
On his Qatar debut, Saudi driver Rakan Al-Rashed overcame two afternoon punctures to hold fifth in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 with Hugo Magalhães.
As expected, it wasn’t easy at all. It’s my first time here in Qatar. Everyone was talking about how challenging this rally can be and that has exceeded my expectations. I am happy to be here at the end of the day. We had two punctures but we managed to get back. Now, we manage the race tomorrow and see what happens.
Rakan Al-Rashed
Al-Zubair leads MERC2
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Lebanon’s Ziad Chehab were sixth, ahead of Denis Krotov and Yury Kulikov. Oman’s Abdullah Al-Zubair and Taha Al-Zadjali were eighth and led MERC2 in their Subaru Impreza. Rashid Al-Muhannadi led Rally4 in ninth, with Jordan’s Shadi Shaban 10th.
Behind them, Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aamri, Lebanon’s Jad Al-Aawar, Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Atteya, Kuwait’s Jassim Al-Muqahwi and India’s Mohammed Mansoor Parol held 11th to 15th and second to sixth in MERC2. Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled lost six minutes when he stopped midway through the second pass of Al-Waab. Academy rookies Saad Al-Harqan and Mohammed Al-Marri were 20th and 21st on their debuts.
How Friday unfolded
Østberg had one of his five-second penalties from the super special rescinded and started the day in the lead. On the 16.94km Waab Al-Mashrab stage, Al-Attiyah was 18.7sec faster than Al-Kuwari and 17sec quicker than Al-Rawahi, who had a slow puncture. He then averaged 120.18km/h through Al-Waab and won Al-Khor to reach the midday service 1min 01.9sec ahead, after Østberg lost 1min 27sec with a double puncture.
In the afternoon, Østberg won the second Waab Al-Mashrab, moved within a tenth of Al-Rawahi on Al-Waab 2 and passed him on the final Al-Khor stage, which Al-Attiyah won to end the day 1min 47.3sec clear.
Saturday’s programme
Two loops of three new stages: Umm Birka, the longest at 21.51km (08:33), Ras Laffan (09:16) and Al-Thakhira (09:42), repeated from 12:08, 12:51 and 13:17, with the podium ceremony at 19:00.
Top 10 after SS7 (unofficial)
- Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah / Candido Carrera – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 00min 40.5sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / Lorcan Moore – Citroën C3 Rally2 – 1hr 02min 27.8sec
- Mads Østberg / Sergiu Itu – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 02min 32.3sec (not registered for MERC)
- Abdullah Al-Rawahi / Ata Al-Hmoud – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 02min 43.9sec
- Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – 1hr 06min 36.3sec
- Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya / Ziad Chehab – Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2 – 1hr 07min 11.4sec
- Denis Krotov / Yury Kulikov – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 07min 37.4sec
- Abdullah Al-Zubair / Taha Al-Zadjali – Subaru Impreza – 1hr 15min 15.0sec
- Rashid Al-Muhannadi / Gary McElhinney – Peugeot 208 Rally4 – 1hr 15min 39.1sec
- Shadi Shaban / Samer Issa – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – 1hr 15min 41.8sec