Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini held a 12.5-second lead after a tense tussle over six desert special stages in the 22nd Kuwait International Rally, round two of the 2014 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, on Friday.

Abu Dhabi Racing’s Khalid Al-Qassimi and Chris Patterson had been in impressive form through the first two stages and the Emirati held the advantage before slipping behind Al-Attiyah. The Citroën DS3 RRC driver kept up the pressure throughout the afternoon to set up a fascinating contest over the closing six timed tests on Saturday.

“I have not been feeling 100% after having the ‘flu for a few days when I came here,” said Al-Attiyah. “Saying that, it has been a good day, no real issues and I have a lead to build on now on Saturday. I will try my best.”

Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari fought a close fight for third until the Qatari dropped a lot of time on the final loop of three stages. Al-Rajhi finished the day in a clear third, 67 seconds behind the leader but 1min 42.3sec in front of fourth-placed Abdullah Al-Qassimi, despite a spin on the seventh stage and persistent overheating issues during the day.

Salah bin Eidan was comfortably the top Kuwaiti driver in his Ford Fiesta R5 in fifth position and that costly loop of three stages with boost valve woes pushed Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari down from fourth to sixth at the end of the day. Fellow countrymen Khalifa Al-Attiyah and Abdullah Al-Kuwari were seventh and eighth. Kuwait’s Dawood Al-Gharabally rounded off the top 10 in his Group N-leading Subaru Impreza.

The talented young Emirati Mohamed Al-Mutawee made giant strides toward a second successive victory in the Abu Dhabi Racing-Citroën Middle East Trophy by holding a 1min 31.5sec overnight lead over Mohammed Al-Sahlawi and birthday boy co-driver Craig Parry. He was also classified ninth overall. Juma Al-Falaisi rolled out of fourth position on the first Al-Zour stage.

Germany’s Edith Weiss and Qatar’s Nada Zeidan were continuing their battle to be top lady driver at the rear of the field.

On Saturday, crews will tackle a further six timed desert special stages, starting with the 13.8km of Safir at 10.06hrs. Runs through Bneider (17.4km) and Julai’a (12.8km) follow at 10.34hrs and 11.12hrs before a regroup and service.

Positions after SS7 (@15.15hrs):

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Ford Fiesta RRC 1hr 14min 25.6sec

2. Khalid Al-Qassimi (ARE)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Citroën DS3 RRC 1hr 14min 38.1sec

3. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Michael Orr (GBR) Ford Fiesta RRC 1hr 15min 32.6sec

4. Abdullah Al-Qassimi (ARE)/Catherine Derousseaux (FRA) Ford Fiesta RRC 1hr 17min 14.9sec

5. Salah Bin Eidan (KWT)//Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Ford Fiesta R5 1hr 18min 02.2sec

6. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Killian Duffy (IRL) Ford Fiesta RRC 1hr 20min 00.6sec

7. Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Adel Hussein (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 22min 05.2sec

8. Abdullah Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nicola Arena (ITA) Ford Fiesta R5 1hr 22min 56.6sec

9. Mohamed Al-Mutawaa (ARE)/Stephen McAuley (GBR) Citroën DS3 R3 1hr 26min 17.7sec

10. Dawood Al-Gharabally (KWT)/Abdulla Al-Ghanim (KWT) Subaru Impreza 1hr 27min 10.7sec