DOHA: Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini won six of the first eight gravel special stages of the Qtel Qatar International Rally and moved into a 32.6-second advantage at the end of day one of the opening round of the 2010 FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
Al-Attiyah and archrival Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi had been the class of the 32-car field in the new Ford Fiesta S2000s and given both cars an impressive debut after a catalogue of pre-rally problems. Al-Qassimi won two stages to claim second position, but both M-Sport-built cars were well clear of third-placed Emirati Rashid Al-Ketbi in his Baumschlager-run Skoda Fabia S2000.
“I have enjoyed the day a lot,” said Al-Attiyah. “We had the issues before the start, but the car is great to drive. It is so nice to be in a real rally car. The top speed of 165 (km/h) is less than the Subaru, but you can hold a faster speed into the corner and the car is much quicker on the exit. I need to get the gearshift exact. That is important. But it has been so much easier to set fast times without taking risks.”
The rate of attrition was unusually high: Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi crash landed over a jump and was forced out of the hunt, while the Qatar Rally Team’s Mubarak Al-Hajri and Khalid Al-Suwaidi also withdrew on the fateful fourth stage. Qatar’s Nada Zaidan, Mohammed Al-Mannai and Hamad Al-Marri were among several other retirements, which were joined by Lebanon’s Michel Saleh on the final stage.
