MEDIA INFORMATION
Baja Aragón Teruel 2018
July 20-22, 2018
For immediate release
Sunday, July 22nd, 2018
QATAR’S ADEL ABDULLA FIGHTS BACK TO FINISH SECOND IN T2 AFTER
LOSING A WHEEL IN SPAIN’S BAJA ARAGÓN TERUEL
TERUEL (SPAIN): Qatar’s Adel Abdulla ceded his T2 category advantage in Spain’s Baja Aragón Teruel late on Saturday afternoon and could not regain the time over Sunday’s final stage. The Doha-based driver eventually reached the finish in second position in his Nissan Patrol Y62.
The Qatari and his French co-driver Jean-Michel Polato had a comfortable lead of 25min 45sec after stage three, but they lost a wheel on two occasions on the fourth stage and, despite setting the quickest time of 2hrs 02min 15sec and beating Saudi Arabian rival Ahmed Al-Shegawi by over 12 minutes on the last stage on Sunday, the QX Rally Team driver could not regain the lost time.
Victory in the T2 category fell to Al-Shegawi with Swedish driver Anders Svensson losing his chance of finishing second after technical issues on the final stage.
Adel said: “Yesterday we started well and we took it easier in the rough places. But, at km 85, I felt something wrong with the rear wheel. I thought it was a flat tyre. We stopped where it was easier to change it and then, suddenly, the wheel came off. We found that all the six bolts had been cut completely. It was really strange. We don’t know what the problem was. Maybe the nuts were not the right size for the bolts.
“Jean-Michel fixed it and we took some bolts from the other wheel. But we lost a lot of time. The ground was not firm and it was difficult to lift the car. We had the same problem 30km from the finish with the right wheel and we stopped before that wheel came off. We took three nuts from the front right wheel and we continued to the finish.
“Today we decided to push to the maximum to try and gain at least one place back. We caught Al-Shegawi in the first 30km and we drove very fast. My co-driver Jean-Michel did a great job.”
Adel’s challenge for T2 honours this season is being supported by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), Ooredoo Qatar and Nissan Qatar.
Adel Abdulla had begun the second of the selective sections on Saturday afternoon with a comfortable lead of 25min 45sec over Sweden’s Anders Svensson, but lost over one and a half hours on the special with the wheel issues and completed the timed test in 3hrs 55min 39sec.
Al-Shegawi won the special in the T2 category with a time of 2hrs 23min 25sec and snatched the overnight lead from Svensson, with Adel Abdulla demoted to third place and Tomasz Baronowski a distant fourth, although the Pole later retired from the event.
The Qatari had it all to do on the last selective section of 127.45km between Barrachina and Alfambra on Sunday morning and a positive approach netted him the fastest time and a useful points-scoring finish.
2018 Baja Aragón Teruel – T2 positions after SS5 (unofficial @ 15.20hrs):
1. Ahmed Al-Shegawi (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) Toyota Land Cruiser 9hrs 00min 37sec
2. Adel Abdulla (QAT)/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA) Nissan Patrol Y62 9hrs 44min 33sec
Anders Svensson (SWE)/João Carvalho (PRT) Isuzu D-Max RETIRED
Tomasz Baronowski (POL)/Grezegorz Konczak (POL) Toyota Land Cruiser RETIRED
Ends
For further information: http://www.bajaaragon.com