ABU DHABI, 31 January 2004 — Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah opened his campaign to retain the FIA Middle East Rally Championship in winning style by dominating the ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally, which finished in Abu Dhabi yesterday. The 2004 UAE rally is the first of eight rounds of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
At the wheel of his Qatar Rally Team Subaru Impreza STi, which was built by Prodrive and run on the 13-stage event by Britain’s Autotek Motor sport, Al-Attiyah dominated from the second timed section. After sharing joint fastest time with the UAE’s Rashid Al-Ketbi on the super special stage, the reigning Middle East champion hit the front on the opening desert section on Thursday and had extended his advantage to 1m 49secs at the overnight halt.
He and co-driver Steve Lancaster had set the fastest time on every stage and continued where they left off on the final six stages today to record a crushing win, although Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi was fastest on the third stage of the second day. Al-Attiyah won the event by a margin of 3m 31secs.
“I didn’t expect it to be quite as straightforward,” said Al-Attiyah.
Nasser’s Qatar Rally Team program has support from the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), Qatar Petroleum, Qatar National Bank andthe 15th Asian Games Doha 2006.
The UAE’s Khalid Al-Qassimi and Ulster co-driver Michael Orr had moved into second position by the restart this morning in their Power Horse World Rally Team Subaru Impreza STi and held on to the runner-up spot throughout the final leg to collect eight championship points in their quest for a maiden Middle East title.
Al-Qassimi headed Al-Sowaidi by 31 seconds after seven special stages in the deserts around the Sweihan oasis, but the Qatari was penalized 10 minutes at the end of the first leg for missing a passage control board. He slipped from third to ninth at the restart and was forced to take risks yesterday in a bid to regain a top placing. He and Irish co-driver Michael Morrisey finished the rally with a damaged gearbox.
Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari finished as the runner-up in last year’s Group N championship in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 and began this year’s challenge for the outright title with sixth overall in his Qatar Rally Team car. He had been third overall before being docked 15 minutes at the finish for missing a passage control.
UAE Rally - final positions after SS13:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA)/Steve Lancaster (GB) Subaru Impreza — 2h 18m 10s; 2. Khaled Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Michael Orr (GB) Subaru Impreza — 2h 21m 42s; 3. Amjad Farrah (HKJ)/Khalid Zakaria (HKJ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 — 2h 28m 52s; 4. Abdullah Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Gaby Khoury (UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 — 2h 29m 39s; 5. Hamed Al-Sowaidi (QA)/Michael Morrissey (IRL) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 — 2h 34m 14s; 6. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QA)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 — 2h 37m 55s; 7. Toufic Mitri (UAE)/Jafar Al-Souhail (UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 — 2h 43m 14s; 8. Essa Al-Dossari (KSA)/ TBA Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution — 2h 46m 50s; 9. Sean Keith (UAE)/Wayne Boshier (UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 — 3h 17m 16s; 10. Meshal Al-Nejadi (KWT)/Shaker Al-Raeis (KWT) Citroen Saxo — 3h 23m 06s.
