Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, Spain’s Marc Coma and the UAE’s Atif Al-Zarouni set the fastest times in their respective car, bike and quad sections on the first 330.51km special stage of the Sealine Cross-Country Rally through the southern Qatar desert on Wednesday.
Al-Attiyah extended his 8.7-second overnight lead to a staggering 11m 07.6s after heading off into the distance at the wheel of his Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux.
The Qatari used his extensive knowledge of the local terrain to perfection to trounce the opposition. He even managed to overtake all the motorcycles and was the first competitor to reach the finish of the stage.
Argentina’s Lucio Alvarez set the second fastest time in another Toyota and Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi was third in a Mini All4 Racing, but a one-minute time penalty for Alvarez means that the Saudi holds a provisional second in the overall rankings. Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser, Qatar’s Faisal Al-Attiyah and Dubai’s Khalifa Al-Mutaiwei rounded off the top six.
“Today was a very long stage and the first time that much of this terrain has been used,” said Al-Attiyah. “I had no problems at all. But it was difficult to open the road. I am so impressed with the performance of the Toyota. It is an excellent car and this is a great shakedown for me in advance of the next Dakar.”
Stage one – 330.51km
Tomorrow (Thursday), competitors tackle a repeat of the 330.51km loop stage through the southern extremities of Qatar, with the first bike beginning the test at the same time – 06.00hrs. The stage features four passage controls and a refuelling point for the motorcycles at PC2.
Sealine Cross-Country Rally – positions after SS1 (330.51km)
(unofficial @ 11.15hrs)
Cars
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Lucas Cruz Senra (ESP) Toyota Hilux 3h 06m 19.1s
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Mini All4 Racing 3h 17m 26.7s
3. Lucio Alvarez (ARG)/Bernardo Graue (ARG) Toyota Hilux 3h 18m 19.8s
4. Faisal Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota HiLux 3h 23m 12.4s
5. Jean-Louis Schlesser (FRA)/Konstantin Zlitstov (RUS) Schlesser Original 3h 24m 55.4s
6. Khalifa Al-Mutaiwei (UAE)/Andreas Schulz (DEU) Mini All4 Racing 3h 26m 47.0s
7. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS)/Vitaliy Yevtyekhov (RUS) G-Force Proto 3h 36m 30.8s
8. Boris Gadasin (RUS)/Dan Shchemel (RUS) G-Force Proto 3h 41m 52.7s
9. Ilya Kusnetsov (RUS)/Roman Elagin (RUS) BMW X3 CC 3h 46m 57.9s
10. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Miloslav Janacek (CZE) BMW X3 CC 3h 50m 41.1s
Bikes
1. Marc Coma (ESP) KTM 450 Rally Replica 3h 50m 41.8s
2. Joan Barreda Bort (ESP) Husqvarna TE 449 RR 3h 50m 48.6s
3. Helder Rodrigues (PRT) Yamaha YZ 450 3h 53m 51.9s
4. Ruben Faria (PRT) KTM Rally Replica 3h 56m 34.0s
5. Jordi Viladoms (ESP) KTM 450 Rally Replica 3h 57m 05.1s
6. Jakub Przygonski (POL) KTM 450 Rally 3h 58m 35.7s
7. Alessandro Botturi (ITA) TM Rally 450 4h 00m 17.3s
8. Sean Gaugain (ZAF) Honda CRF 450 X 4h 02m 04.5s
9. David Casteu (FRA) Yamaha 450 YZ 4h 03m 56.7s
10. Paolo Ceci (ITA) KTM 450 Rally Replica 4h 04m 49.0s, etc
Quads
20. Atif Al-Zarouni (UAE) Honda 450 4h 49m 06.0s
23. Rafal Sonik (POL) Honda TRX 700 5h 11m 00.0s, etc
