DOHA, Qatar, 21 November 2003 — Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Steve Lancaster are just one rally away from officially claiming the 2003 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, after a stunning victory on the recent Troodos Rally, based in the mountains of Cyprus.
The Qatari ace nearly didn’t get to contest the penultimate round of the series at all. While shaking down his 2002 specification Subaru Impreza WRC on Tuesday before the event, the Japanese machine dramatically caught fire on a test stage and the entire car was destroyed.
The team acted quickly to fly in a replacement car at the very last minute for the event. The Qatar National Bank-backed machine duly made the start of the rally on time, and Al-Attiyah showed no signs of trauma from the fiery incident as he immediately rocketed into the lead of the rally.
The replacement car was performing superbly for Nasser as he continued to build a strong lead over local favorite Andreas Tsouloftas in his Mitsubishi Lancer.
Drama was about to strike again for the championship leaders as they sped through one of the mountain passes.
The Qatari driver momentarily had a mechanical problem as he turned into one corner, and the Subaru slipped off the side of the road as a result.
Incredibly, Nasser was able to extricate the car from a near impossible position on the hillside, and the Pirelli shod Subaru regained the road some one and a half minutes later.
Both Nasser and Steve breathed a huge sigh of relief at the end of the stage.
Al-Attiyah was delighted with the victory for himself, Lancaster and the Qatar Rally Team: “When I sat in the rally car on the test stage and noticed the flames, I could not believe what was happening.
The car had disappeared in flames within seconds — it was so frightening. However, I must thank the Qatar Motor Federation, Qatar National Bank and Autotek Motorsport for resolving the situation so quickly and so professionally. They really did keep us in the rally — before it had even started.”
