Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc, Spaniard Marc Coma and Qatar’s Adel Hussein Abdullah recorded the fastest selective section times in the car, motorcycle and quad categories on the third and penultimate day of the 2013 Sealine Cross Country Rally in southern Qatar yesterday.

Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser, Coma and Poland’s Rafal Sonik retained the overall category leads. Schlesser, who lies second in the FIA World Cup standings after two rounds, will start the final leg with a comfortable unofficial lead of 25min 46sec over Mini driver Holowczyc, who lost vital time changing two flat tires near the end of the stage.

Kazakh Aidyn Rakhimbayev recorded the second quickest time in his Overdrive Toyota Hilux and Qatar’s Faisal Al-Attiya (Hummer) was third, despite losing a lot of time stuck on the ridge of a sand dune near the finish. Venezuelan driver Nunzio Coffaro holds third overall in the second Belgian-built Toyota.

“We lost our chance to gain the time back today,” said Holowczyc’s disgruntled co-driver Andreas Schulz. “Schlesser was waiting for us not far from the end on a dune. He did not want to open the road tomorrow. That is the game. But we also had two punctures and that cost us a lot of time.” Coma will start the final leg with a 2min 04sec lead over Portugal’s Paulo Gonçalves in the motorcycle class and the pair could be set for a thrilling ‘motocross-style’ showdown over the closing kilometers to determine the winner on Friday.

“For three days now we have been finishing the stages together,” said the Portuguese. “I will try hard tomorrow, but even if I catch the two minutes, it will be difficult to finish four seconds in front of him to take the win. I must also make sure I finish to get the points for the Speedbrain team.” Coma was upbeat about his chances on the factory KTM: “You know motocross at the end perhaps, maybe even a sprint finish like a cycling race. We will see!” Poland’s Jakub Przygonski holds third position and Chile’s Francisco Lopez is fourth.

Norwegian rider Pal-Anders Ullevalseter started the day in fourth overall, a mere 14 seconds behind Coma, but he fell and broke his femur shortly after the second passage control and was airlifted to hospital for medical attention. He had fallen back with gearbox problems before the crash.

Sonik maintained his quad category lead heading into the final day. The Pole, winner in 2012, has a massive advantage over the UAE’s Obaid Al-Kitbe, although he was pushed hard for the day’s stage win by the resurgent Adel Hussein Abdullah and the Qatari claimed the stage win when Sonik incurred a 20-minute time penalty.

Positions on SS3 – 407.10km (unofficial):

Cars — 1. Krzysztof Holowczyc (POL)/Andreas Schulz (DEU) Mini All4 Racing 4hr 23min 55sec 2. Aidyn Rakhimbayev (KAZ)/Vladimir Demiyaneko (RUS) Toyota Hilux 4hr 26min 37sec 3. Faisal Al-Attiya (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Hummer 4hr 29min 25sec 4. Nunzio Coffaro (VEN)/Daniel Meneses (VEN) Toyota Hilux 4hr 33min 34sec 5. Jean-Louis Schlesser (FRA)/Konstantin Zhiltstov (RUS) Schlesser Original 4hr 33min 43sec

Bikes — 1. Marc Coma (ESP) KTM 450 Rally Replica 4hr 40min 35sec 2. Paulo Gonçalves (PRT) Speedbrain 450 Rally 4hr 42min 36sec 3. Jakub Przygonski (POL) KTM 450 Rally Replica 4hr 46min 37sec 4. Francesco Lopez (CHL) KTM 450 Rally Replica 4hr 48min 36sec 5. Quinn Cody (USA) Speedbrain 450 Rally 5hr 14min 59sec

Quads — 1. Adel-Hussain Abdullah (QAT) Suzuki ATV 6hr 08min 59sec 2. Rafal Sonik (POL) Honda TRX 700 6hr 23min 40sec 3. Obaid Al-Kitbe (ARE) Honda TRX 700 6hr 34min 48sec 4. Mohammed Abu Issa (QAT) Yamaha Raptor 700 6hr 43min 57sec