2004 UAE International Rallly
FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 1 of 8
For immediate release
Saturday, January 31st, 2004
STEWARDS QUASH PENALTIES
FOR AL-KUWARI AND AL-DOSSARI
Qatar’s Al-Attiyah heads to Sweden today; Al-Qassimi safe in second place
ABU DHABI (UAE): The panel of Stewards in charge of the ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally, the opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, met on Friday evening to further discuss the time penalties awarded to Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Saudi Arabia’s Essa Al-Dossari.
After much deliberation, they decided to scrap the 15-minute penalties incurred by both drivers for missing passage control boards during the second leg of the two-day event. As a result, Al-Kuwari regained third position and the final podium placing for the Qatar Rally Team, at the expense of Jordan’s Amjad Farrah, who slipped to fourth.
Essa Al-Dossari finished in sixth place, although the 10-minute penalty handed to Qatar’s Hamed Al-Sowaidi on the opening leg remained in place and he was seventh.
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah dominated the event to take an early lead in the regional series. The UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi was second overall in the Power Horse World Rally Team Subaru Impreza STi.
Today (Saturday), meanwhile, Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah heads for Sweden to begin his initial preparations for next weekend’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
The second round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship takes place in Bahrain in March, although many of the championship contenders now head to Qatar to tackle the FIA’s regional candidate rally on February 19th-21st.
UAE Rally – final positions after Stewards meeting:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA)/Steve Lancaster (GB) Subaru Impreza 2h 18m 10s
2. Khaled Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Michael Orr (GB) Subaru Impreza 2h 21m 42s
3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QA)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 2h 22m 55s
4. Amjad Farrah (HKJ)/Khalid Zakaria (HKJ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 2h 28m 52s
5. Abdullah Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Gaby Khoury (UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 2h 29m 39s
6. Essa Al-Dossari (KSA)/Ramzi Mansour (KSA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 2h 31m 50s
7. Hamed Al-Sowaidi (QA)/Michael Morrissey (IRL) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 2h 34m 14s
8. Toufic Mitri (UAE)/Jafar Al-Souhail (UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 2h 43m 14s
9. Sean Keith (UAE)/Wayne Boshier (UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 3h 17m 16s
10. Meshal Al-Nejadi (KWT)/Shaker Al-Raeis (KWT) Citroen Saxo 3h 23m 06s
Overall championship positions after round 1 of 8
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA) 10 pts
2. Khalid Al-Qassimi (UAE) 8 pts
3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QA) 6 pts
4. Amjad Farrah (HKJ) 5 pts
5. Abdullah Al-Qassimi (UAE) 4 pts
6. Essa El-Dossari (KSA) 3 pt
7. Hamed Al-Sowaidi (QA) 2 pts
8. Toufic Mitri (UAE) 1 pt
Manufacturers
1. Subaru 10
2. Mitsubishi 6
FIA Super 1600
1. Meshal Al-Nejadi (KWT) 10 pts
2. Essam Al-Nejadi (KWT) 8 pts
Ends
For further media information: Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, E-mail: NDPPublicity@compuserve.com, www.ndp-publicity.com/press releases