Dubai: The UAE's Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi completed his second successive victory in the Dubai International Rally yesterday to bring down the curtain on the 2006 FIA Middle East Championship.
Partnered by Khalid Al Kindi in a Subaru Imprezza, the 2004 Middle East champion completed the 640-km event with a winning margin of exactly two minutes from fellow-UAE driver Shaikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum in another Subaru.
Taking third place in his Mutsubishi Evolution, another 2mins 18 seconds adrift, Shaikh Abdullah Al Qasimi lost the final podium place in the FIA Middle East series to his brother, Shaikh Khalid, by a single point.
Completing the top six were Qatar's Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah in a Subaru, Shaikh Suhail's City of Arabia team-mate, Michel Saleh, in a Mitsubishi Evo and Oman's former Middle East Group N champion, Nizar Al Shanfari, in a another Subaru.
Holding an overnight lead of 1 min 18 seconds, Shaikh Khalid made a convincing start to the second leg, increasing his lead by 29 seconds over Shaikh Suhail on the first of the day's six special stages.
Shaikh Suhail, already assured of runner's-up spot in the championship, responded by taking the next stage, and while he was never able to serious challenge for the lead, the defending champion could never afford to relax.
"It's been tough on the car today," said Shaikh Khalid after completing the last of 14 special stages.
"It's taken a lot of hammering, especially the suspension. There's been some good stages, but we've had to be careful of some big ditches. I'm very happy, but it was tough, really tough out there."
