Sealine Cross-Country Rally, Qatar – April 22-26, 2013
FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, round three
For immediate release
Friday, April 19th 2013
OVERDRIVE RACING HEADS TO QATAR’S SEALINE
CROSS-COUNTRY RALLY WITH FOUR-CAR TEAM
· Brazilian Varela and Venezuelan Coffaro aim for podium finishes in Qatar
· Polish rookie Kaczmarksi and Kazakh Rakhimbayev complete Overdrive line-up
· Qatar’s Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Toyota support Overdrive Racing for Sealine event
DOHA (QATAR): Overdrive Racing is in the State of Qatar making its final preparations for next week’s Sealine Cross-Country Rally, the third round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, where the Belgian team will field four cars in the four-day desert event on April 22-26.
The Brazilian duo of Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin will be hoping to repeat their victory at the Italian Baja in March and are entered for their second race with Overdrive.
The Venezuelan pairing of Nunzio Coffaro and Daniel Meneses finished 12th in the recent Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge after final stage delays and they head to Qatar looking for a good points haul in a Toyota Hilux with support from Venezuelan Tourism, the Ministry of Sport and PDVSA.
Poland’s Martin Kaczmarski and Bartlomiej Boba joined Overdrive Racing for the first time in the UAE two weeks ago and reached the finish at the Yas Marina circuit in a fine ninth overall. Spurred on by this success, the Poles head to the deserts of Qatar in confident mood and crew the third car, with a top 10 finish the goal on this occasion.
Kazakhstan driver Aidyn Rakhimbayev and Russian co-driver Vladimir Demiyanenko complete the Overdrive Racing line-up in their Toyota Hilux. Running under the Team Astana banner, the pair has joined the Belgian team for the first time, although they have competed in numerous cross-country events and will be fielding two Toyota Hiluxes later in the season.
“It has been a busy few weeks and part of our team stayed in the Middle East after the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to prepare the cars for this race,” said Overdrive team manager Jean-Marc Fortin. “I think we have a good chance of a good result. I think the combination of drivers that we have might surprise a few people.”
Overdrive Racing has received extensive support from Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros., the sole local distributor of Toyota and Lexus cars, for its challenge for honours in the Sealine Cross-Country Rally.
Overdrive Racing benefited from the support of the company in 2012 and went on to take first and second overall in the Sealine event with Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Argentinean Lucio Alvarez driving the cars. The team is delighted to be continuing the association this year.
Administration checks, scrutineering, the initial briefing and the pre-event press conference will take place at the Losail International Circuit, north of Doha, on April 21 and 22.
The ceremonial start will then get proceedings underway on Doha Corniche on Monday afternoon (April 22) and the first of four desert selective sections begins on Tuesday, April 23.
With temperatures threatening to enter the high forties Centigrade in the southern Qatar deserts, teams will then tackle three further desert stages before the action draws to a close on Friday, April 26.
Ends
For further information: contact Jean-Marc Fortin (E-mail: jmf@overdriveracing.be) or Scott Abraham (E-mail: sa@overdriveracing.be), Overdrive S.A., rue de la métallurgie 37, 4530 Villers-le-Bouillet, Belgium, Tel: + 32 475 762 391. www.overdriveracing.be