2019 Manateq Qatar International Rally
FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 1
For immediate release
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
NASSER AL-ATTIYAH LEADS 40th MANATEQ QATAR
INTERNATIONAL RALLY AFTER AL-WAKRAH OPENER
· Ceremonial start gets underway at Souk Al-Wakrah for first time
· Qatar’s Adel Abdulla stands in to co-drive for Khalid Al-Suwaidi
AL-WAKRAH (Qatar): Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah set the fastest time through the opening 2.72km super special stage of the Manateq Qatar International Rally at Al-Wakhra, south of Doha, late on Thursday evening.
A time of 4min 01.1sec enabled the Qatari to hold a lead of 23.8 seconds in his new Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 over second-placed Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari at the overnight halt. Khalid Al-Suwaidi was third.
The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) attracted 16 FIA cars, six national entrants and competitors from 13 nations for the opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).
This is the 40th edition of the event and the 35th to be a counting round of the regional series since its inception in 1984. Qatar has been an ever present in the MERC with the exception of 2004 when it ran as a candidate event and this is the 24th occasion that the rally has been the first round of the championship. It is the 211th rally in MERC history.
The opening super special was filmed live by Al-Rayyan television and featured two different sections of a purpose-built, floodlit track with drivers competing in pairs and taking their turns on each section of the special.
QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai and Manateq’s CEO Fahad Rashed Al-Kaabi flagged the cars off the start podium at Souk Al-Wakrah.
Several drivers carried out pre-event testing on Wednesday afternoon. Al-Attiyah took the opportunity to shake down his new Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
The 13-time event winner said: “It’s fantastic. A great feeling for the first time in the Polo. I get support from VW Motorsport. Qatar is a major investor in the company. We see what we can do. In this moment, we only have the support for the MERC. I would also like to do some European Championship events. I will do my best to win this race. The new stages in the north are a little bit tricky. They are far away from service and, tomorrow, two stages and repeat and without remote service. So it will not be easy.”
Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani won the regional title in 1993 and had made a surprise return to special stage rallying after a long stint in cross-country events.
The Qatari said: “This is the first time that I drive the R5. The last time I drove a car like this was a Group A (Toyota Celica) in ’94 or ‘95. I made test yesterday, around 10km, but the car was easy to drive. I don’t have the experience with saloon cars for a long time, but I hope to do well and go to the finish without a problem.”
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari returns to action for the first time since the Qatar event in 2016. “I tested for a short time and I need to get back into it,” said Abdulaziz, who is hoping to extend his programme to more events this season. “I need to decide whether to drive like a taxi and make sure I finish or push a little.”
Khalid Al-Suwaidi made a late co-driver change and lined up at the start with Adel Abdulla in the Motortune Ford Fiesta R5 that his co-driver had driven to second overall last November.
Adel is only the second individual in MERC history to finish inside the top two as a driver and co-driver – he finished second in the Qatar Rally as a navigator to the late Misfer Al-Marri in 2006. Qatar’s Mubarak Al-Hajri won the event in 1993 as a co-driver with Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah and in 1995 with Khalifa Al-Mutaiwei and finished second overall as a driver in the 2011 Qatar Rally with Emirati Arif Yousef Mohammed.
There were late technical dramas for the two MERC 3 contenders: Henry Kahy’s crew changed the engine in the defending champion’s Škoda Fabia for an Evolution 1 version from Italy and Asem Aref was forced to fit a standard gearbox after damaging his transmission earlier this week.
Lebanon’s Nadim Zaide retired his Renault Clio with electrical issues before the start of the Manateq Qatar National Rally.
Friday
Teams will tackle just four special stages on Friday in a short but potentially tricky opening day. There will be no opportunity to return to Lusail Sports Centre for a midday service break in a day that starts with the first of two runs through the 19.86km of Al-Ruwais in the far north of Qatar at 10.40hrs.
The first pass through Al-Ghariyah follows at 11.15hrs and the two specials are repeated at 12.10hrs and 12.45hrs after a chance for remote refuelling between the two loops.
2019 Manateq Qatar International Rally – positions after SS1:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 4min 01.1sec
2. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Marshall Clarke (GBR) Škoda Fabia R5 4min 24.9sec
3. Khalid Al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Adel Abdulla (QAT) Ford Fiesta R5 4min 25.0sec
4. Ahmad Khaled (LEB)/Dany Kairouz (LEB) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 4min 25.3sec
5. Stefano Marrini (ITA)/Nicolas Garcia (ARG) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4min 28.3sec
6. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4min 28.8sec
7. Abdullah Al-Ruwahi (OMN)/Ata Hmoud (JOR) Subaru Impreza 4min 41.2sec
8. Abdulla Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Hugo Magalhães (POR) Subaru Impreza 4min 48.8sec
9. Henry Kahy (LEB)/Musa Djiyerian (JOR) Škoda Fabia 4min 57.6sec
10. Rashid Al-Mohannadi (QAT)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4min 58.0sec
11. Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani (QAT)/Dale Moscatt (AUS) Ford Fiesta R5 5min 04.1sec
12. Saif Al-Harthy (OMN)/Saif Al-Minai (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 5min 27.7sec
13. Mohammed Al-Meer (QAT)/Alexei Kuzmich (RUS) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 5min 42.0sec
14. Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Nicola Arena (ITA) Ford Fiesta R5 6min 02.0sec
15. Jaralla Jahman (QAT)/Feras Allouh (QAT) Subaru Impreza 6min 40.7sec
16. Asem Aref (JOR)/Faris Al-Tal (JOR) Renault Clio 6min 41.1sec
2019 Manateq Qatar National Rally – positions after SS1:
1. Shaun McGonigal (OMN)/Nath Marriott (OMN) Subaru Impreza STi 4min 47.5sec
2. Jarah Al-Touqi (OMN)/Issa Al-Wardi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 4min 52.3sec
3. Humaid Al-Waili (OMN)/Ghaith Al-Qassimi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 4min 59.6sec
4. Zakariyah Al-Amri (OMN)/Abdullah Al-Amri (OMN) Subaru Impreza 5min 24.0sec
5. Hamid Al-Qassimi (OMN)/Yakhdan Al-Rashdi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 6min 19.7sec
Zakariya Al-Ofi (OMN)/Ammar Al-Bulooshi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX TBA
Follow the race live:
http://timing.sporttraxx.com/races/qatar-2019/#itinerary
Ends
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, International Press Officer, 2019 Manateq Qatar International Rally, Qatar mobile: + 974 669 51079, UK Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@gmail.com, www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases), Twitter: @LordPerkins
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