Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah in action in Morocco.
Agadir, Morocco: Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah snatched a 22-point lead over arch rival Sébastien Loeb in the FIA W2RC Drivers’ Championship after finishing third at the 22nd Rally of Morocco yesterday.
Driving his Toyota GR DKR Hilux, Al Attiyah teamed up with French co-driver Mathieu Baumel to win the Qualifying Stage and the third of five desert selective sections. A series of four punctures cost the Qatari dearly on the second stage and he climbed back from seventh position to book his podium finish yesterday.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver, Al Attiyah began strongly and carded the fastest time through the short Qualifying Stage that would later determine the starting order for the first desert selective section of 316.21km between Agadir and Tan Tan.
Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al Rajhi won the opening desert stage by 3min 05sec from Al Attiyah to snatch an early lead.
The second selective section of 315.13km wound its way through the southern deserts to the oasis town of Laãyoune. Al Attiyah suffered four flat tyres and the resultant time loss was an agonising 53min 50sec for the Qatari, who plummeted to seventh in the overall standings after completing the stage in 7th position, 33min 18sec off the lead in the overall standings.
Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Yazeed Al Rajhi pose for a picture.
Al Attiyah used his starting position to full advantage on the third desert loop of 298.53km around Laãyoune, which was held in strong winds and sandstorm-like conditions. He bounced back strongly to win the stage by 1min 21sec from overall leader Guerlain Chicherit, thus reducing the deficit to the Frenchman to 27min 37sec in the overall rankings.
The day’s performance also lifted the Qatari into fourth overall at the expense of Al-Rajhi, who slipped to seventh after losing 38 minutes on the day with steering rack issues.
The penultimate stage of 345.98km ran between Laãyoune and a return to Tan Tan. Al Attiyah came home third and saw his title chances boosted when Loeb stopped in the stage with his own technical problems which pushed him well behind the Qatari once additional time penalties were imposed.
The result lifted Al Attiyah into third in the general standings.
The fifth stage of 289.51km ran between Tan Tan and the finish in Agadir, but included non-competitive transfer and neutralisation sections and was shortened because of reduced visibility as the fifth fastest time confirmed third overall for Al Attiyah.
The final round of the 2022 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) takes place in Andalucia on October 18-23.
