Qatar’s Adel Abdulla suffered a devastating setback to his chances of regaining the FIA T2 World Championship after he was deprived of a first ever victory in the category at his home Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally (QCCR) by a niggling electrical issue yesterday.
The Nissan Patrol driver and fellow Qatari navigator Nasser al-Kuwari led from the opening super special stage at Losail last Wednesday evening and, despite falling behind near the start of the first desert section, they won the next three selective sections through the Qatar deserts and had a massive lead of nearly four hours to take into the final day.
Everything was going according to plan, even though the Qatari was running behind rival Ahmed al-Shegawi in the final timed test. That was until 265km of the special when the Nissan stopped with a niggling electrical issue and the crew spent many agonising minutes trying to repair the car to continue.
He managed to get going again and reached the stage finish agonizingly too late to be classified in the results and the Qatari’s wait for a first T2 victory on his home event continues.
Adel said: “It was an electrical problem with the switch for the differential. The left tyre started to break. We do not know what caused it. There is nothing broken on the car. The tyre has moved.
“We played with the fuse and it worked after we had stopped for a long time. Then we tried to push to the end of the stage but we arrived seven minutes late. The Clerk of the Course is very strict with this and we are out of the race. This is similar to what happened last year. Even now the car is showing a four-wheel drive fault. It is very disappointing for us.”
Adel Abdulla’s campaign to win back the FIA T2 Championship title he first secured in 2016 comes with valuable support from the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), Ooredoo Qatar and Nissan Qatar.
Qatar’s Adel Abdulla (second from right) and co-driver Nasser al-Kuwari (left) finished third in the Manateq Qatar Baja yesterday. PICTURE: Othman Iraqi
