MEDIA INFORMATION
Oman Rally Sohar International
2022 FIA Middle East Rally Championship – January 27th-29th
For immediate release
Friday, January 28th, 2022
MECHANICAL DISAPPOINTMENT FOR AL-WAHAIBI ON FIRST LEG OF OMAN RALLY
MUSCAT (OMAN): Omani rally driver Hamed Al-Wahaibi suffered the disappointment of turbocharger failure as early as the first stage of the Oman Rally Sohar International on Friday morning.
The 53-year-old and his New Zealand co-driver Tony Sircombe were holding a strong second place behind multiple regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah when the technical issues side-lined their Škoda Fabia Evo at the end of the 21.98km of the Al-Khoud stage.
Al-Wahaibi had already shown a blistering turn of speed on Thursday evening and was firmly in second position when the component failed. He was running strongly on the pace of the leader for much of the stage until the engine suddenly lost power and he coasted to the finish.
“This is the fourth Oman Rally that I have retired from,” reflected Al-Wahaibi. “I have entered four and retired from four. Three I was leading and retired because of mechanical problems. Today it was a turbo. It was an engine one time and a ball joint, one time.
“All those retirements have been purely cruel luck and not driver mistakes. They have all been technical. I was excited for today’s stages. They were really fun and enjoyable to drive. Unfortunately, I only drove the first one. Especially through the wadi and the water splash, it was something pretty special. The car was performing well and Tony was completely in sync.
“I am obviously disappointed for the fans and the team. I am here for fun. I am back in the sport. I have no targets and just love driving fast. I adore rallying. It is passion-based, so it is not a problem. We are going back tomorrow under the Super Rally rule and am looking forward to having some more fun.”
Co-driver Tony Sircombe added: “Obviously today is not the best outcome. We had good intentions and were doing really well through the first stage of the morning. By about the 20km mark, with about two kilometres to go, we lost power completely. The turbo charger failed. They just don’t fail these days. It’s one of those mechanical things that is completely out of our control.
“We can be happy with our performance up to that point and look forward to coming back tomorrow. There is no pressure on us now. We can continue where we left off…”
Saturday’s action offers two loops of three equally demanding gravel stages in the Abyad (13.52km), Qalqal (17.71km) and Nakhal (19.22km) areas before the ceremonial finish, post-event press conference and prize giving take place at Nakhal.
Ends
For further information: contact Ameen Jarrar, Marketing and PR, Oman Rally Team, Tel: +968 9543 9859.