Dubai : Qatari drivers are on course for a double celebration in the 32nd Dubai International Rally today after Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi saw his hopes of victory to round off UAE National Day weekend shattered by a blown engine.
At the end of Leg 1, on completion of six special stages yesterday, Qatar's top-seeded Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, title holder in the rally and the FIA Middle East Championship, held a lead of 46.9 seconds from the UAE's Rashid Al Ketbi.
Needing only a top six finish to snatch the Middle East crown from compatriot Al Attiyah, Misfer Al Merri was comfortable in fourth position and looking more and more likely to become the fourth Qatari to claim the regional series since its launch in 1984.
With Khalid Al Suwaidi in third place, the same position he held in the championship at the start of this eighth and final round, it is becoming an even better weekend for Qatar following the country's momentous achievement of winning the 2022 Fifa World Cup bid.
Al Attiyah celebrated that success by displaying a 2022 sticker across the windscreen of his Super 2000 Ford Fiesta as the First Leg got under way. But he had no answer to Shaikh Khalid's early surge, which gave him a lead of 4.6 seconds over the first loop of three special stages.
Hopes vanish
On the next stage, Shaikh Khalid extended his advantage to 12.6 seconds, but minutes later his charge towards a third Dubai International Rally victory was destroyed as his Ford Fiesta's engine blew 11kms into the day's fifth and penultimate stage.
It was a cruel disappointment for the UAE star, who had said before the start that he could think only of winning his home rally and would go flat out to achieve that objective in the event, held under the patronage of Shaikh Majid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture.
Back-to-back winner in 2005 and 2006, Shaikh Khalid described his experience over the first three special stages as "perfect", although Al Attiyah appeared fully relaxed, knowing the battle had just begun.
Having won Dubai International Rally five times in the last seven years, he should now add to that haul, although he cannot afford to relax, or make mistakes, particularly if Al Ketbi reproduces his performance on Leg 2 last year when he won all but one stage.
The UAE's Shaikh Abdullah Al Qasimi, brother of Shaikh Khalid, finished the leg in fifth place, with Kuwait's Essam Al Najadi in a Subaru Impreza completing the top six.
The surviving 20 cars leave Rally HQ at Dubai Men's College just after 0800 in the morning at the start of Leg 2, with three special stages each to be run twice in the Al Dhaid area.
At end of Leg 1 after six special stages:
1.N. Al Attiyah (QAT) / G. Bernacchini (ITA) Ford Fiesta N/N4 1:02'54.6
2.R. Al Ketbi (UAE) / K. Al Kendi (UAE) Skoda Fabia Evo2 N/N4 1:03'41.5
3.K. Al Suwaidi (QAT) / N. Beech (GB) Subaru Impreza N15 N/N4 1:07'45.5
4.M. Al Merri (QAT) / N. Arena (ITA) Subaru Impreza N16 N/N4 1:08'06.7
5.A. Al Qasimi (UAE) / S. Lancaster (GB) Mitsubishi Evo 9 N/N4 1:08'07.7
6.E. Al-Najadi (KWT) / A. Al-Sharaah (KWT) Subaru Impreza N15 N/N4 1:13'41.9
7.A. Kuwari (QAT) / S. Prevot (B) Subaru Impreza N15 N/N4 1:15'30.9
8.A. Al Rabban (QAT) / A. Yousef (UAE) Subaru Impreza N/N4 1:17'30.1
9. M. Saleh (LBN) / Z. Masannat (HKJ) Mitsubishi Evo 9 N/N4 1:19'50.4
10.J. Al Merri (QAT) / K. Khoder (LBN) Subaru Impreza N14 N/N4 1:20'40.9.
