By Sports Reporter/Doha
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah added a second FIA World Cup of Cross Country Rallies title to his illustrious career after he won the OiLibya Rally of Morocco yesterday.
With yesterday’s win in Morocco, the Qatari driver has amassed 261 points in the standings, with Vladimir Vasilyev second with 221. With only 30 points up for grabs in Portugal later this month, al-Attiyah won his second title, the first being in 2008.
This year has been particularly good for al-Attiyah’s motorsports exploits, with a second win in the Dakar Rally, the title winning-effort in Morocco, a firm grip on the FIA Middle East Rally Championship and a nine-point lead in the WRC2 standings with two rallies to go.
Al-Attiyah can seal his 11th MERC title in 13 years with a victory in the Rally of Jordan later this month. With a 49-point lead on UAE’s Sheikh Khalid al-Qassimi going into October 15-17 round six of the MERC, a win will give the Qatari superstar an unassailable lead in that championship with two rounds left — Oman and Dubai.
“I’m very happy about my victory here in Morocco and the points I gained in the FIA World Cup,” al-Attiyah said after his win yesterday. “It was my first priority to increase the gap in the FIA standings to more than 30 points. Now we are ready for the Dakar Rally.
“It is a good rally. We won here last year too. It is very important for me to win the world championship. This is a big thing for me. Overall, we are quite happy and the team had been working very hard all weekend. We are so happy to win.”
In Morocco, the X-Raid Mini driver had a comfortable 16-minute lead over Saudi driver Yazeed al-Rajhi going into the final day yesterday after former champion Carlos Sainz retired on the penultimate stage on Thursday.
The 44-year-old extended his lead yesterday to win the rally with a margin of 16 minutes and 45 seconds over last year’s champion Vladimir Vasilyev despite a podium clean sweep by the Overdrive Toyotas in the final stage.
Giniel de Villiers led the way from Bernhard Ten Brinke and Vasilyev, while al-Rajhi finished the final stage in eighth. Al-Rajhi slipped to third in the overall classification.
Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen gave X-Raid Mini their second top five finish of the rally, even as nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb finished his cross-country rally debut for Peugeot with a 14th place finish on the final day.
Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation president and FIA vice president Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah congratulated the Qatari driver for his achievement.
He said, “We are happy for this victory, and it is for Qatar and the entire Arab region. Our hero Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah is no stranger to success and he has always made us proud with his international achievements. This victory proves that Qatar is working well on a planned sporting strategy set out by HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. I want to congratulate him on this victory and promise him more and more Qatari achievements.”
Overall classification (top 5)
1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Mini All4 Racing 14hr 18min 18sec
2. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS) Overdrive Toyota Hilux 14hr 35min 03sec
3. Yazeed al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottchalk (DEU) Overdrive Toyota Hilux 14hr 35min 32sec
4. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) Toyota SA Hilux 14hr 37min 40sec
5. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Michel Périn (FRA) Mini All4 Racing 14hr 49min 29sec
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies Standings (top five)
1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT) 261 pts
2. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS) 221 pts
3. Yazeed al-Rajhi (SAU) 98 pts
4. Reinaldo Varela (BRA) 97 pts
5. Marek Dabrowski (POL) 92 pts
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (right) and co-driver Mathieu Baumel celebrate their win in the Rally of Morocco yesterday; (right) Al-Attiyah and Bau
