KUWAIT INTERNATIONAL RALLY, March 4th-6th, 2010
FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round two
For immediate release
Friday, February 12th, 2010
KMSC CONFIRMS ROUTE AND TIMETABLE FOR 2010 KUWAIT RALLY
· Fourteen special stages on offer in three-day desert rally
· New Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X for Mufeed Mubarak
KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait): The Kuwait Motor Sports Club (KMSC) has confirmed the official timetable and revised format for the 2010 Kuwait International Rally, the second round of this year’s FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), which takes place on March 4-6.
The event will run under the patronage of His Excellency the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and under the presidency of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Dawood Al-Sabah, President of the KMSC and chairman of the organising committee.
Clerk of the course Walid Mihyar has now finalised changes to the special stages in the Kuwaiti desert and has confirmed that teams will tackle 14 timed tests over a competitive distance of 250.92km in a total route of 714.74km.
“We have made changes and improvements to the stages that were used last year and special stages make up just over 35% of the total distance of this year’s route,” said Mihyar.
Competitive action will get underway with a timed 3.5km super special stage from 15.30hrs on Thursday, March 4th and the second section of leg one will include a further seven stages on Friday, March 5th.
Teams will tackle the heavily-revised 34.72km Al-Salmi and completely new 33.16km Al-Atraff stages from 08.56hrs and 10.19hrs, before they are permitted to carry out refuelling before the 12km Shooting Club special, half of which is new. The difficult format means that crews will be forced to run for three stages and over 79km against the clock without service assistance.
The service area and rally headquarters will be based at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex for a second year and a regroup and service stop will precede repeat runs through the three stages on the Friday afternoon, before the first cars finish the leg from 17.39hrs.
The second leg takes place on Saturday, March 6th and features two runs through three more special stages and a repeat of Thursday afternoon’s super special. The 13.50km Sulibikhat special gets the day underway from 08.56hrs and is followed by runs through the improved Al-Metlaa stage and a modified Shooting Club special.
Teams then return to the service park for regrouping and service and this is followed by repeat runs through the three desert stages and the final 3.5km super special stage from 15.45hrs. Surviving teams then transfer to the Kuwait Towers for the official finish podium from 17.00hrs.
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti driver Mufeed Mubarak has confirmed that he will tackle his home event in a new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. Mubarak teamed up with new co-driver Meshal Al-Nejadi in the recent Qatar International Rally to claim a fine ninth overall.
Three of the drivers who finished ahead of the Kuwaiti in the final classification were not registered for the FIA Middle East Rally Championship and Mubarak now holds sixth position in the Drivers’ Championship heading to the second round in Kuwait.
The closing date for entries is next Wednesday (February 17th). Further details are available from the Kuwait Motor Sport Club, PO Box 29, Salmiya, 22001 Kuwait, Tel: + (965) 253 55511 and 253 55522, Fax: + (965) 253 55566, E-mail: admin@q8racing.com or q8racingclub@yahoo.com, www.q8racing.com
Ends
For further media information:
Neil Perkins, International Media Liaison, 2010 Kuwait International Rally, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com, www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases)