KUWAIT CITY: Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah’s rich vein of form continues and the Qatari coasted to an emphatic record-breaking fifth victory in the Kuwait International Rally yesterday.
Partnered to a fourth successive win this year by French co-driver Matthieu Baumel, the Ford Fiesta RRC driver won nine of the 13 gravel special stages and reached the podium at Marina Crescent in Kuwait with a winning margin of 1min 02.1sec.
The success was his 56th in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) and he now stands just four wins short of the magical 60 set by Dubai’s Mohammed Ben Sulayem between 1984 and 2002. Baumel claimed his fifth MERC win and now draws level with Steve Lancaster and Nabil Njeim in equal sixth in the list of most co-driver wins in the MERC.
“I am so happy to keep this run of wins going and extend my lead in the championship,” said Al Attiyah.
“I had a good strategy here and it worked. I managed my pace and that was important. I did not take risks. It’s not all about winning all the stages. Now we have a good lead in the championship.”
Abu Dhabi Racing’s Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC won two stages and shadowed Al-Attiyah to the finish for the second time this season. He and Chris Patterson lost a little time in the dust on Friday but picked up another haul of valuable championship points to keep the heat on the Qatari in the eight-round series.
Two punctures and a one-minute time penalty cost a subdued Yazeed Al Rajhi any chance of victory, but he and Ulster co-driver Michael Orr reached the finish in third place and set two fastest stage times.
The 2012 event winner Khalid Al Suwaidi complained that the tracks were difficult to follow at times and admitted to losing his way on occasions. He finished in a solid fifth behind Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Marshall Clarke. Al Kuwari’s uncle Abdullah Al- Kuwari rounded off the top six with his former Irish co-driver Killian Duffy.
Despite losing several minutes on the opening day, Salah bin Eidan proved that all was not lost and the Kuwaiti driver stormed back through the field to claim seventh and victory in the Group N category.
Despite brake issues, Germany’s Edith Weiss finished her second successive event in a fine eighth overall and second in Group N once Kuwait’s Saleh Aly retired on the 11th stage.
Abu Dhabi Racing junior Mansoor Bel Helai restarted under Rally 2 and benefited from the demise of overnight leader Mohammed Al-Sahlawi to claim ninth overall and first in the two-wheel drive section with his Citroën DS3. Qatar’s Rashid Al Naimi rounded off the top 10. The second round of the FIA MERC was organised by the Basil Salem Al Sabah Motor Racing Club (BMRC).The Peninsula
