Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah
Doha: Four-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah will go head-to-head with nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb to decide the outcome of the Drivers’ Championship in the inaugural FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) at the Andalucia Rally which flags off today.
Finishing third at the recent Rally of Morocco has given the Qatari a slight advantage and he will take a 22-point cushion into the season’s finale in southern Spain. Individual selective sections may well be crucial on the five-day event, where fastest times are rewarded with additional bonus points on the four longer stages. A win or a second-placed finish for Al Attiyah and his Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel in their South African-built Toyota Gazoo Racing GR DKR Hilux could well prove decisive.
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah drives his Toyota GR DKR Hilux, in this file photo.
Loeb and Belgian-driver Fabian Lurquin suffered technical issues in North Africa in a Prodrive-built Hunter BRX and finished 56th overall. Outright victory may well be a necessity for the Frenchman, in addition to consistently fast daily stage times if he is to wrest the title from Al Attiyah clutches.
Yazeed Al Rajhi is a distant third in the points’ standings but could still finish second if Loeb hit trouble. He again teams up with German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz and heads to Spain directly after competing at Rally Qassim in Saudi Arabia. Al Rajhi drives the first of three Overdrive Racing Toyota Hiluxes: Dutchman Erik van Loon and Frenchman Lionel Baud are also registered for championship points.
Guerlain Chicherit returned to the rallying discipline in spectacular style to win the Rally of Morocco and he drives the second of the Bahrain Raid Extreme Hunters in Spain. The former rallycross star holds sixth in the points’ standings, but he and co-driver Alex Winocq could well provide a vital supporting role for Loeb by potentially depriving Al Attiyah of much-needed points.
Toyota Gazoo Racing currently holds a 20-point lead over Bahrain Raid Xtreme in the W2RC Manufacturers’ series. With Loeb and Chicherit representing the BRX team and pushing for outright victory in Spain, there is a strong chance that the Prodrive team could snatch the title from Toyota at the 11th hour.
Twenty SSVs are entered in the T3 section and eight drivers are registered for W2RC points.
Three South Racing Can-Am drivers will battle it out for W2RC’s T4 title supremacy: Poland’s Marek Goczal currently has a one-point cushion over Lithuania’s Rokas Baciuška and a two-point lead over American racer Austin Jones.
The final round of the W2RC had originally been scheduled to take place in early June, but a long period of hot, dry weather increased the risk of bush fires and the decision was taken to postpone the event to the autumn.
Competitors will tackle a Qualifying Stage and four selective sections of 315km 228km, 333km and 126km in a compact route of 2,111km that sees teams visit the Sevilla region on day one, the Malaga province for leg two and the areas around Huelva and Cadiz on the last two days.
The event will be based out of the Gran Hipódromo de Andalucia in the town of Dos Hermanas, situated 15km south of Seville.
2022 Andalucia Rally
Leading entries
Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA), Toyota GR DKR Hilux
Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), Prodrive Hunter BRX
Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU), Toyota Hilux Overdrive
Erik van Loon (NLD)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA), Toyota Hilux Overdrive
Guerlain Chicherit (FRA)/Alex Winocq (FRA), Prodrive Hunter
Lionel Baud (FRA)/Remi Boulanger (FRA), Toyota Hilux Overdrive
João Ferreira (PRT)/David Monteiro (PRT), Mini John Cooper Works Rally
