Al Attiyah, Carrera Fastest On Opening Super Special Stage At Qatar International Rally

LUSAIL: Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Candido Carrera carded a time of 4min 46.9secto edge into a 4.1-second lead after the opening 4.36km super special stage of the Qatar International Rally yesterday evening.

The timed test at the LCSC Karting Academy followed the official start ceremony for the second round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) at Lusail Boulevard, north of Doha.

Shortly after the pre-event press conference for 10 of the leading drivers that was chaired by Amro Al Hamad, Executive Director of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), the QMMF's President Abdulrahman Al Mannai was joined on the podium by several legends of former Qatar rallies.

Nasser Al Attiyah is flagged off.

To mark the 50-year history since its inauguration in 1975, Al Mannai presented a framed photograph to six-time winner and Qatari rallying legend Saeed Al Hajri, Sadoon Al Kuwari (a former local driver, organiser and father of Abdulaziz and Nasser Al Kuwari) and regular former competitor Jaber Al Marri.

The 1993 winner, current competitor and former QMMF President Nasser Khalifa Al Atya and Prodrive's Chairman David Richards - the brainchild behind the formation of the Rothmans Rally Team in the early 1980s, the first Gulf Championship and the very start of the MERC - also received framed photographs on the start podium.

Twenty-eight teams and competitors from 19 countries then took the start and headed to Lusail for the opening stage.

Abdullah Al Rawahi and Ata Al Hmoud finished second and Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Lorcan Moore were third. Mads Østberg and Sergiu Itu were the quickest crew in the stage but were docked 10 seconds for clipping a couple of cones and slipped to fourth.

Speaking about the two days of desert action ahead, Al Attiyah said:“The stages are the same as last year with just a few kilometres changed and the same starts and same finishes. The team have done a good job. There have been big steps forward. There are some rough places, of course, this is Qatar. The rally is always like this. That is part of the challenge. The weekend will be very interesting. It is nice we have the 50th anniversary of the event. I did the rally in 1990, 1991 and 1993 and then every time since 2003. This is my 25th Qatar Rally!”

Saudi driver Rakan Al Rashed is competing in Qatar for the first time with the 2017 event-winning co-driver Hugo Magalhães. He finished fifth on the opening test in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2. Ahmad Khaled finished ninth on the opening stage.

Qatar Motorsport Academy Stars Programme winners, Mohammed Al Marri and Saad Al Harqan, both safely negotiated their first ever competitive stage in their Peugeot 208 Rally4s.

Today, crews head north of Lusail to tackle two loops of three special stages. Action begins at 08.53km with a run through the Waab Al Mashrab stage and passes through Al Waab (09.20hrs) and Al Khor (10.00hrs) complete a rapid-fire morning loop before the return to Lusail for a late morning regroup and service.

The re-run of Waab Al Mashrab gets the afternoon action underway at 12.43hrs and the other two stages are repeated at 13.10hrs and 13.50hrs.

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