UAE's Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi will renew his rivalry with Qatari Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah when the Bahrain International Rally starts today at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Twenty-seven drivers take part in the two-day race, organised by the Bahrain Motor Federation. It is the second of nine rounds of the 2005 FIA Middle East Rally Championship and has attracted many of the region's finest rally drivers.
Al Qasimi and Ulster co-driver Michael Orr won last year's regional championship by nine clear points at the wheel of their Power Horse-sponsored Subaru Impreza WRX STi. However, they head into the weekend's action over twisty and technical gravel stages in Bahrain, two points behind Al Attiyah and his co-driver Chris Patterson.
Al Attiyah, after winning the opening round of the series in Al Ain, is confident he can keep up the good work.
"It will not be easy to win the event for the second time in a row," Al Qasimi said at a press conference. The UAE driver had clinched his first ever outright regional triumph on Bahraini soil last March. Co-driver Orr is also looking forward to the challenge.
While Al Qasimi and Al Attiyah start as favourites for an outright win, the event also marks the dramatic return to competition of Oman's Nizar Al Shanfari in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7. The former regional champion had missed the first round of the series earlier this month.
