JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera opened a 24.2-second lead after Friday’s first day of Rally Saudi Arabia powered by Jameel Motorsports.
The Qatari handled the high temperatures on round three of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), taking two stage wins in his Autotek Škoda Fabia RS over punishing stages east of Jeddah. Finland’s Juho Hänninen and Janni Hussi, in a Toyota Yaris entered by Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT for WRC evaluation, were his closest rivals and won stage three. In the support categories, Abdullah Al-Zubair leads MERC2 and Rashid Al-Muhannadi heads MERC4.
Everything went well. The most important thing is that we are in the lead at the end of the first day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be another strong day.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Quite short afternoon but safety first. Hopefully we can drive a bit more tomorrow. The plan is to get familiar with the conditions and try to learn as much as we can from this rally.
Juho Hänninen
Home hero Rakan Al-Rashed and Hugo Magalhães hold third in their Toyota, keeping close to Al-Attiyah in the Drivers’ Championship fight. Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari continued his good form in fourth with Lorcan Moore, while joint 2023 champion Abdullah Al-Rawahi lost time to a series of morning punctures and dropped to fifth.
MERC2 leader Al-Zubair, Qatari veteran Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya, SSV entrant Hamza Bakhashab, Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan and Bassel Abu Hamdan complete the top 10.
These were the first stages in my life in this type of rallying. My first actual stage was good and I had a good time. The next one was slippery and the car was sliding too much. These rallies are a huge difference to cross-country. You need 100% concentration. You cannot miss one note or one second because, in a blink, it can be over. Full gas, full brakes, great fun.
Hamza Bakhashab
Morning loop
Top seed Al-Attiyah attacked from the start of the 12.94km Wadi Al-Matwi stage, setting the fastest time of 7min 58.2sec to lead regional debutant Hänninen by 10.6 seconds, with Oman Rally Team’s Al-Rawahi third.
Um Al-Jerem, the second stage of the loop, proved another stern test. Hänninen hit back with the quickest time, cutting the gap to 9.4 seconds before the return to Jeddah for service. Despite co-driver Hussi feeling unwell in the heat, the Finn was positive.
It was okay, No big issue just really slippery, both stages. Everything went smoothly. For us, coming from Finland, where it is zero degrees, this is different. I was not expecting it to be so rough, more than Safari actually.
Juho Hänninen
The stages were really nice. It’s new for everyone and we had to be careful from the beginning. Now we have the reference and the good pace notes we can push more. But it is easy to get punctures. We were smart in the second stage and we only lost one second to Juho in the last one.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
It was quite challenging. The two stages were surprising in places. I thought the grip would have been better. It was loose and there were many rough places and we needed to manage the challenge ahead of us.
Rakan Al-Rashed
Al-Kuwari and Al-Zubair sat fourth and fifth at midday, with Al-Rawahi sixth after his tyre troubles.
We had a puncture. The second stage we were pushing, the pace was good and I was happy with the car. At the end of the stage, maybe three kilometres to go, we hit a rock and bent the rim. I thought it was a puncture. I lost focus a bit and we lost time. The third stage, we were pushing and we hit a rock after 5km and we had to change the puncture immediately. We lost a lot of time because it was very narrow and soft and we had to find a place to stop and change the wheel. Then we had a puncture at the end of the stage but we were happy to make the end of the loop.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
Stages two and three were nice. I catch Abdullah Al-Rawahi after five kilometres in stage three. He had changed a tyre. I could not pass him. I was in the dust for 15 or 16km. It was unfair. I was doing very well. They are difficult and challenging. It’s for everyone but nice stages, except for stage one.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari
MERC4 and retirements
Rashid Al-Muhannadi led MERC4 from Payyaakkal ‘Saneem’ Panikkaveettil and Saad Al-Harqan after Mohammed Al-Marri stopped near the end of stage three. Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez had throttle problems with his Škoda.
We managed to get some time back on Rashed Al-Muhannadi but there were some loose stones. We hit them and lost an axle and could not finish the stage. We will continue on Saturday.
Mohammed Al-Marri
In the afternoon heat, Al-Attiyah went eight seconds quicker on his second run through Wadi Al-Matwi to stretch his lead over Hänninen to 24.2 seconds. Al-Rashed strengthened his hold on third, while Al-Harqan did not start the afternoon loop in his Peugeot 208 Rally4.
The rally is hosted by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) with the Saudi Motorsport Company, under FIA supervision as an official WRC candidate event and the chairmanship of HRH Prince Khalid bin Sultan Abdulla Al-Faisal.
Saturday
Crews tackle two loops of three new stages north of Jeddah: Al-Ghulal (11.70km) at 07:30, Asfan (26.55km) at 08:08 and Thahban (8.46km) at 09:56. The second Thahban run from 15:22 is the Power Stage, with bonus points for the fastest crews.
Positions after Leg 1 (unofficial)
- Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah / Candido Carrera (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) – 29min 56.1sec
- Juho Hänninen / Janni Hussi (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)* – 30min 20.3sec
- Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) – 31min 12.3sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / Lorcan Moore (Citroën C3 Rally2) – 31min 39.4sec
- Abdullah Al-Rawahi / Ross Whittock (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) – 34min 00.4sec
- Abdullah Al-Zubair / Taha Al-Zadjali (Subaru Impreza WRX Sti) – 34min 17.5sec
- Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya / Ziad Chehab (Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2) – 34min 51.9sec
- Hamza Bakhashab / Marcin Pasek (Can-Am Maverick R, SSV) – 35min 04.2sec
- Shaker Jweihan / Aisvydas Paliukenas (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) – 35min 49.7sec
- Bassel Abu Hamdan / Firas Elias (Škoda Fabia Rally2) – 37min 25.7sec
Also among the Lebanese crews: Shadi El Fakih / Joseph Kmeid (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) were 38min 52.5sec, and Joanna Hassoun / Dolyne Chlink (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, national entry)* were 40min 43.9sec. Saad Al-Harqan and Mohammed Al-Marri retired.
*Not registered for the MERC.