Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah raced to a win in the WRC2 category at Rally de Portugal yesterday.
Driving a Ford Fiesta RRC, the defending champion, who had won the rally in Mexico in March, finished 12 seconds ahead of Finland’s Esapekka Lappi, who secured a podium finish for Skoda Fabia R5 on its WRC debut.
Skoda had another reason to cheer about yesterday with Swedish driver Pontus Tidemand finishing 25.8 seconds behind his team-mate.
“This was a new rally for everybody and there was no experience advantage for any driver,” said 2015 Dakar champion al-Attiyah. “We were really strong and showed that we’re fast and I’m so happy to win again.”
Another Qatari, Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, who had won the previous round in Argentina, finished sixth behind Frenchman Julien Maurin (Ford Fiesta RRC) and Stéphane Lefebvre, who struggled with worn tyres yesterday morning.
The tough gravel roads of northern Portugal proved too much for many competitors and the event became one of attrition.
Frontrunners Karl Kruuda of Estonia and Yazeed al-Rajhi of Saudi Arabia both retired on Saturday. Retirees yesterday included Finland’s Jari Ketomaa, who crashed heavily after a jump, Anders Grondal, Eric Camilli and Australian champion Scott Pedder. (WRC.com)
