By Sports Reporter/Abu Dhabi
With one more day remaining in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge POWERED by Nissan, Nasser al-Attiyah is firmly on course for his second victory in the event while reigning world champion Marc Coma is within reach of an eighth bikes success in the UAE.
Partnered by French co-driver Mathieu Baumel in his Mini All4 Racing and looking to repeat his cars success of 2008, al-Attiyah won yesterday’s 258km Nissan Patrol special stage from defending champion Vladimir Vasilyev to extend his overall lead to 19min 47secs from the Russian driver in another Mini.
With Dutchman Erik Van Loon another 20 minutes away in third, Britain’s Harry Hunt in a Mini, and Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi and Poland’s Marek Dabrowski, both driving a Toyota Hilux, complete the top six.
It was a bitterly disappointing day for Sheikh Khalid al-Qassimi, holding fourth place overnight on his Desert Challenge debut, and fellow-Emirati driver Yahya al-Helei, winner of the first stage on Sunday.
Partnered by Portuguese co-driver Jose Marques in a Toyota Hilux, al-Qassimi retired half way through the stage with a gearbox problem. But after such a strong showing on his first appearance in the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies there could be much more to come.
Al-Helei, who had slipped to ninth 24 hours earlier after outpacing the factory cars in his locally-built Nissan Pick-up, rolled early on the stage and then suffered a heavy landing after 35kms. Co-driver Khalid al-Kendi was freed from the car by the medical team and evacuated by helicopter to Madinat Zayed Hospital with back injuries.
By then the reign of Portugal’s Paulo Gonçalves as Desert Challenge bikes champion had already been ended by mechanical problems. The 234km Abu Dhabi Aviation Special Stage 5 takes the rally to its finish at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, at 4.30pm today.
Fittingly, the T2 class winner on the Nissan Patrol stage was Denis Berezovskiy from Kazakhastan in a Nissan Patrol, although the UAE’s Mansour al-Helei - son of Yahya – retained his overall production class lead in another Patrol.
There were no problems for stage winner Matthias Walkner, nor for his KTM teammate Coma, who was second fastest on the day to extend his overall lead from Dubai-based Sam Sunderland to 11 mins 55secs.
While the UAE’s top two drivers had a day to forget, the country’s leading rider, multiple Arab moto cross champion Mohammed al-Balooshi, again underlined his ability amongst the world’s best to be sixth fastest on the stage and sixth overall. Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla, Portugal’s Ruben Faria and American Ricky Brabec, filled the other top six places.
Victory on the stage gave Qatar’s Mohammed Abu Issa an overall lead of 24mins 43secs from last year’s Desert Challenge quads winner and reigning world champion Rafal Sonik of Poland.
Reaching the end of the Nissan Patrol stage, al-Attiyah said: “It was tough today, it was very hot and the sand is very hot but we did a good job. We took a lot of caution in this stage because there was a lot of big holes so we need to manage the terrain but our Mini did well and the Michelin tyres worked great in the dunes.
“I am happy to finish without any drama and safely. We don’t even see dunes like this in Dakar. The Desert Challenge is one of a kind and we are always learning.”
Quads leader Abu Issa said: “It was great to pass Rafal (Sonik). Yesterday I took it easy and he beat me but today I knew I had to push. I like the Nissan stage, I’ve won it the last three years and this is definitely the hardest one.”
