(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
LUSAIL: Poland's Jakub Przygonski and Belgian co-driver Tom Colsoul confirmed a dramatic and vital victory in the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally after overnight leader Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah suffered terminal engine issues on the run down Qatar's west coast on the final stage yesterday.
The MINI John Cooper Works Rally crew trailed Qatar's defending champion and his French co-driver Matthieu Baumel by 14min 43sec at the start of the final stage of 331.84km.
Al Attiyah was prepared to play the strategy game and that enabled the Pole to overtake the Toyota and lead the way through most of a stage that cut across the country's central deserts before skirting the western coastline and then finished with a traditional sprint along a sandy beach to the flying finish near Sealine.
The plan appeared to be working well for Al Attiyah until he suffered terminal engine issues between the third and fourth passage controls and this opened the door for Przygonski to romp home and claim a famous victory and a 31-point lead in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies standings.
Przygonski, who had a winning margin of 40min 13sec, said: 'We are so happy. It was a really tough race from the beginning with the navigation and the terrain. We had no big problems during any of the five stages. Sad for Nasser, but this is motor sport. This can happen always.
A disappointed Al Attiyah said: 'This is rally. This is a new car. From two days ago we had a small issue with the engine but we tried to keep going.
G-Energy Team MINI One driver Vladimir Vasilyev shadowed Przygonski to the finish to snatch second overall and 42 valuable championship points, while Saudi Arabia's Yasir Seaidan French co-driver Laurent Lichtleuchter gave Overdrive Racing the final place on the podium in their Toyota Hilux.
Qatar's Adel Abdulla's began the final stage with a T2 lead of 3hrs 53min 03sec in his QMMF and Ooredoo-backed Nissan Patrol Y62.
Saudi Arabian rival Ahmed Al Shegawi won the day's stage after Adel stopped with a reported broken rear axle after 265km and battled in vain to repair the damage. He managed to get going again before the stage finish control closed but an eventual retirement was a bitter blow for the Qatari and handed his Saudi rival the maximum 50 championship points.
Frenchman Claude Fournier hung on to secure maximum points to T3 to snatch the oveall lead in the FIA T3 Championship from Spanish rival José Luis Pena Campo. Santiago Navarro was third.
'We are very proud of the organisation this year, said Abdulrahman Al Mannai, President of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF).
'We made a lot of changes, including the set-up for the rally offices, the media and the super stage.
'We expected a tough rally as always, because of the challenges of the navigation. Many people come here who have been to Dakar and many rallies and think it may be easy. But this rally is very tough as we have seen with the results changing.
'Unfortunately, our hero Nasser was leading all the way to the last stage until he had an engine problem and he had to pull out. We are also proud of Adel's performance this week in T2.
Oman's Abdullah Al-Zubair, the cousin of Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East champion Al-Faisal, won the second round of the Manateq Qatar Baja that finished at PC3. The Jeep Wrangler driver carded a time of 1hrs 45min 33sec.
The Saudi Arabian T2 winner Ahmed Al Shegawi was second and Adel Abdulla moved into third when Khalid Al Feraihi incurred time penalties.
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