(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah, yesterday clinched the Cyprus Rally title for the seventh time in his career, retaining the crown by using his vast experience.
Nasser was driving a Volkswagen Polo R5, co-driven by the Frenchman Mathieu Baumel. This was his second victory this year in the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) from two events.
The third and final round of the MERC - the Rally of Lebanon - will be held next month.
Nasser is the most successful competitor in Cyprus with seven titles, with Sebastian Loeb second on the list with four victories. Also, this was Nasser's 16th title win in Cyprus as he also claimed Troodos Rally crowns nine times.
With the win, the Qatari rally star remains on track for his 16th title in the Middle East Rally Championship 10th consecutive.
Meanwhile, the current leader of the local championship Panagiotis Yiangou / Panagiotis Kyriakou, finished in the second place with a Hyundai i20.
They had a steady race and despite the problems they faced in the Saturday's stage, they counterattacked yesterday and finished second, taking the prize 'Loris Ellinas given to the first Cypriot crew, in honour of the first winner of the Cyprus Rally in 1970.
The podium was completed by Christos Demosthenous / Costas Pavlou with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. They made a lasting counterattack after S.S. 2 when they had fallen 12th.
Two other Cypriot Lancer followed with Savvas / Papandreou in 4th place and Roussos / Giannakou in 5th. The two 2WD category was won by Chrysostomos Panteli / Thomas Theofanous with Ford Fiesta in front of Televantos / Stavrou with Peugeot 208.
21 crews started the race, 13 of which managed to finish the first day. Utilising the Rally2 regulation, six of those who left, returned yesterday (18/10) to finish 16. The race covered a total of 510km of which 178 km were the ten special stages.
It has always been not enough to be the fastest to win the Cyprus Rally. But usually Nasser did it too, reaching the finish line first, being faster and more durable.
Nasser was happy to drive with consistency without 'hurting the Volkswagen Polo. He won only three stages, thus in one stage they have shared the victory with Alex Tsouloftas.
The Cypriot driver, who also raced with a Volkswagen Polo won the first three races (in the third he had the same time as Nasser) and another three yesterday (18/10).
However, his fight was lost when in S.S. 4 broke the rear right axle and retired on the next stage.
The 2018 winner Simos Galatariotis, was also very fast yesterday (18/10), winning a special stage and finishing in the top three in three more.
On the first day he went off the road on the first route and could not return.
Also yesterday, Qatar's Nasser Saadon Al Kuwari, teaming up with Kuwait's Mshari Al Thefiri with Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X clinched the MERC2 victory.
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