Huelva, Spain: The battle for the inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) is set for a thrilling finish after Sebastian Loeb won the third and penultimate stage at the Andalucia Rally in Huelva, Spain yesterday.
Bahrain Raid Xtreme’s Loeb moved into the provisional lead with a 28-second margin over Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah, who clung onto second place overall despite losing 11:28 secs yesterday.
Partnered by Fabian Lurquin in the BRX Prodrive Hunter, Loeb wiped out Al Attiyah’s 11 mins 20 secs overnight lead to ensure the drivers’ title race will go all the way to finish today.
Following the cancellation of Friday’s stage, the Andalucia Rally will no longer reach the 900 kilometres of specials required to award full points in the FIA categories (T1, T3 and T4).
The competitors who finish the rally today will therefore only receive half points. This does not affect the points awarded at the end of each stage. But it remains to be seen how that will effect battle for the title between Al Attiyah and Loeb.
Al Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel struggled with their car setup yesterday as the Toyota Hilux suffered two punctures, which spoiled their rhythm as they finished fourth fastest in the third stage.
The nine-time World Rally Champion Loeb still has a 21-point gap to make up on Al Attiyah and the uncertainties of rally raid which have been so evident this season suggest there could still be a dramatic climax in southern Spain.
