Qatar’s T2 Rally champion Adel Abdulla suffered his first loss in the Qatar Online Racing Championship (QORC) WRC 8 series as his Omani counterparts Ammar Al Balushi and Zakariya Al Aufi emerged victorious in the opening round of the semi-finals.
Omani Rally champion Al Aufi won the Group A battle while his regular co-driver Al Balushi clinched the top spot in Group B after battling through eight gravel stages on a virtual route in Chile. Abdulla, a former FIA World Cup of Cross-Country Rallies champion, was in close contention as the Qatari, his Kuwaiti counterpart Mishari Al Thefiri and Ahmed El Khouly pushed the eventual winner to his limits. Al Balushi managed to win four stages with QORC Touring Car Championship winner El Khouly winning three stages.
Al Thefiri, the MERC 2 champion secured the win in the remaining stage. Al Balushi clocked a time of 43:53.455 to complete the race and bagged 40 points in the three-leg semi-final series as Abdulla finished 21.118 secs slower than him to collect 36 points. It was Abdulla’s first loss in four races after staying unbeaten over 22 stages in the first round of the series. Al Thefiri bagged 33 points after booking the remaining spot on the podium.
In Group A, Al Aufi posted five stage wins and three second-place finishes to lead a field of seven drivers. Qatar’s Khalid Al Maraghi finished second in the overall Group A standings with one win and six podium finishes. Mansour Dbeissy remained in the third spot.
The second rally in the semi-final stage will take place in Spain today. After three semi-final rallies, top three from each group will qualify for the final which will take place on Saturday. The WRC8 series is the third online event organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation following highly successful Touring Car Championship and the MotoGP series.
