DOHA: Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah remained firmly on course for an unprecedented 12th victory at the QMMF Qatar International Rally after six timed special stages in the Qatar deserts on Friday.

The Qatari and co-driver Matthieu Baumel have teamed up for a full program of FIA Middle East Rally Championship events in a Ford Focus RRC and lead the 13-stage event by 1min 17.50sec heading into the final half dozen timed tests on Saturday.

“It’s a nice position to be in at this point with a good lead and six stages to go,” said Al-Attiyah. “But, I suppose I was a little fortunate this morning. I was pushing quite hard and managed to avoid the punctures that affected the others and cost them time. I do have a good lead, but one puncture tomorrow and that can all be lost. I need to manage the race carefully now.”

Punctures wrecked the challenge from both of his major rivals. Abu Dhabi Racing’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi was forced to stop and change a wheel on the second of the day’s specials and the delay cost him 3min 50sec. He reached the end of the leg in third overall.

Saudi Arabian driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his Ulster co-driver Michael Orr complained of handling issues on the first stage, but the Riyadh driver settled into an impressive pace from then on to hold third place and he moved up to second on the last test of the day.

Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari completed eight kilometers of the second stage of the day on a flat tire and lost half a minute. The Qatari and his Irish navigator Killian Duffy held second at the midday regroup and looked set to reach the overnight halt in a similar position until they reportedly punctured again on the last stage and dropped nearly four minutes to the leader and moved into fourth place.

Kuwait’s Salah bin Eidan and new Slovenian co-driver Vili Oslaj held sixth and led the Group N category from the sole-surviving Iranian crew of Ali Mesgarha and Vahidreza Vahdatinikzad until the last stage. But they too hit serious suspension trouble and the Iranians held the showroom category lead at the overnight halt. Only five of the 12 starters reached the overnight halt, although the rest should return in Rally2.

On Saturday crews tackle the remaining six special stages of the MERC opener, starting with 20.90km near Mekanes at 08.38hrs. Runs through the 15.33km of Salwa at 09.11hrs and a QMMF-backed 27.56km special at 09.49hrs precede a regroup and service stop at the Qatar Aqua Park.

The three specials are repeated at 11.52hrs, 12.25hrs and 13.03hrs. After a final service at the Aqua Park, cars then return to the QMMF on the Salwa Road in Doha for the ceremonial finish and prize giving from 14.30hrs onwards.

Positions:

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Ford Fiesta RRC : 1hr 03min 08.9sec

2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Michael Orr (GBR) Ford Fiesta RRC: 1hr 04min 26.4sec

3. Khalid Al-Qassimi (ARE)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Citroën DS3 RRC: 1hr 07min 21.3sec

4. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Killian Duffy (IRL) Ford Fiesta RRC: 1hr 08min 09.3sec

5. Ali Mesgarha (IRN)/Vahidreza Vahdatinikzad (IRN) Subaru Impreza : 1hr 28min 45.7sec