Nissan’s Adel Hussein Abdulla is aiming to round off his successful FIA T2 campaign in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies by winning at this weekend’s 30th Baja Portalegre 500 in eastern Portugal.
The Qatari drives a Nissan Patrol with support from Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and lies second in the championship standings behind a Saudi Arabian rival. Adel currently has a protest lodged with the FIA over the legality of his rival’s car and the outcome of that will decide whether he is still in a position to snatch the T2 title at the 11th hour.
Adel Hussein and French navigator Sebastien Delaunay know that it will not be easy to win the category for Series Production Cross-Country vehicles with a capacity entry and several leading European drivers offering strong competition, but the Doha-based driver is confident in the strength and reliability of his TOK Sport-run Nissan Patrol and is relishing the start of the event on Thursday evening.
“This is the final round of the FIA World Cup and it is an important event not only for me but also for the team,” said Adel Hussein. “Like many of the rounds of the series, this rally is new for me and the first time for me in Portugal. I am aiming for first place in T2 and hopefully we have a chance of winning the championship. We are going to fight to the end.
“Even if I finish the championship in second position, this is a big achievement for me as it is the first time that I have done the full series of events.”
Organised by the Automovel Club de Portugal, documentation and scrutineering checks will take place at the NERPOR facility on Thursday and precede the ceremonial start that is being hosted in the Tarro Gardens in downtown Portalegre for the first time on Thursday evening from 22.00hrs.
The bulk of the competitive action takes place on Friday and Saturday (October 28-29) through remote rural terrain in eastern Portugal. Action gets underway with a timed super special stage of 5.62km at Coutades and then a longer and more demanding Ponte de Sor stage of 83.15km.
Two further selective sections of 220.52km and 198.11km take place on Saturday before the ceremonial finish at Nerpor. In a total route of 642.46km, race officials have planned 507.40km against the clock.
The event ran for the first time under the name of Rali Maratona de Portalegre Finicisa in 1987 and was the brainchild of ex-Dakar driver José Megre. Former winners in the car category include Carlos Sousa, the late Colin McRae, Dakar legend Stéphane Peterhansel, Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc and the 2014 and 2015 winner Ricardo Porém.
FIA T2 Cross-Country Rally World
Cup – positions after round 8
1. Yasir Saeidan (SAU) 192 pts
2. Adel Hussein Abdulla (QAT) 131 pts
3. Mohammed al-Harqan (QAT)107 pts
4. Jaroslaw Kazberuk (POL) 67 pts
