MEDIA INFORMATION
Hungarian Baja
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, round 6
August 12-14, 2016
For immediate release
Sunday, August 14th, 2016
NISSAN’S ADEL HUSSEIN ABDULLA REMAINS FIRMLY IN T2 CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENTION WITH SECOND PLACE IN HUNGARY
· QMMF-backed star 11 points off series lead with three rallies to run
VESZPRÉM (HUNGARY): Nissan’s Adel Hussein Abdulla added vital points to his FIA T2 World Championship tally by finishing a strong second in the category at the Hungarian Baja, round six of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, on Sunday.
The Qatari and French navigator Jean-Michel Polato lost time on the first of two stages on Saturday with a niggling technical issue and regained most of the lost time over the subsequent two stages to climb back into second place and finish 6min 26sec behind category winner and series leader, Yasir Saeidan, of Saudi Arabia.
Running a Nissan Patrol with support from Nissan Middle East and the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), Adel is still confident that he can win this year’s FIA T2 World Championship heading to the remaining three rounds of the series in Poland, Morocco and Portugal.
“It was a bit frustrating this morning because we had a problem with the navigational trip meter and didn’t know the exact distances between some of the corners in the road book,” said the Doha-based driver. “This caused us to slow down and lose vital seconds here and there. I am still happy to finish second after the issues we had yesterday and we are still in a very strong position for the championship.
“There are plenty of points at stake with Poland, double points in Morocco and Portalegre in Portugal, so I am going to keep on pushing right to the end of the season. I have the belief and the confidence with the Nissan Patrol. It’s a very capable car and it shows event-after-event its potential.
“After the little problem with the fuel pump on Saturday morning, we had no problems at all after that and we were around nine minutes faster on the second run through the stage. We would have had a very good chance of winning without that issue.”
The Qatari headed into the second stage on Saturday afternoon in third position in T2, trailing the series leader by 4min 27sec. Saeidan edged the third stage with a time of 2hrs 06min 10sec to reach the overnight halt with an advantage in T2 of 4min 41sec, but the second fastest time for Adel Hussein lifted him ahead of Poland’s Mariusz Wiatr and into second position in the standings.
Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Harqan held third overall and Polish driver Jaroslaw Kazberuk rose to fourth when Wiatr lost 13 minutes in the stage and slipped to fifth.
The final stage on Sunday morning ran for just over 170 km. Adel Hussein trailed Saeidan by just 34 seconds at the first timed checkpoint and the Saudi crossed the finish line to card a time of 2hrs 05min 07sec for a total of 6hrs 30min 58sec to confirm the win.
Adel Hussein made a superb fight back over the closing kilometres and reached the stage finish just 1min 46sec behind the Saudi to earn 21 championship points for second place. Fellow countryman Mohammed Al-Harqan finished third and Wiatr was fourth.
2016 Hungarian Baja – positions after SS4 (T2 class):
1. Yasir Saeidan (SAU)/Alexei Kuzmich (RUS) Toyota Land Cruiser 200 6hr 30min 58sec
2. Adel Hussein Abdulla (QAT)/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA) Nissan Patrol 6hr 37min 24sec
3. Mohammed Al-Harqan (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Toyota Land Cruiser 6hr 49min 56sec
4. Mariusz Wiatr (POL)/Artur Szczygel (POL) Mitsubishi Pajero 6hr 50min 02sec
5. Jaroslaw Kazberuk (POL)/Robin Szustkowski (POL) Ford Raptor 6hr 53min 43sec
FIA T2 Cross-Country Rally World Cup – positions after round 6 (unofficial):
1. Yasir Saeidan (SAU) 141 pts
2. Adel Hussein Abdulla (QAT) 130 pts
3. Mohammed Al-Harqan (QAT) 72 pts
4. Jaroslaw Kazberuk (POL) 67 pts
5. Emil Khneisser (LEB) 36 pts
6. Marat Abykayev (KAZ) 30 pts
7. Aleksandr Terentyev (RUS) 25 pts
8. Raul Orlandini (PER) 24 pts, etc
Ends