Al-Attiyah storms to victory in Kuwait Rally

Agencies/Kuwait CityQatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah pulled 14 points clear of his nearest rival after yet another dominant performance behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta yesterday.The Qatari ace took the Kuwait Rally title to extend his lead in the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC). He now has 50 points putting him comfortably ahead of UAE’s Sheikh Khalid al-Qassimi, who finished second yesterdayProducing a flawless driving display, al-Attiyah finished the second round of the championship with a winning margin of 1min 13.9secs from al-Qassimi in his Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team DS3 RRC.Qatar’s Abdulaziz al-Kuwari and Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi, who scored WRC2 victories in the last two rounds of the World Rally Championship, took their Ford Fiesta RRCs to third and fourth places on a day which brought no changes to the leading positions overnight.Al-attiyah, who won the opening race in Qatar, resumes his rivalry with al-Qassimi in Jordan where the third leg of the series starts on May 9.Al-Qassimi, however, believes the title race is not yet over.. “I’m disappointed with the result, but at least we were moving in the right direction at the end,” said al-Qassimi, on reaching the finish alongside British co-driver Scott Martin.“We didn’t have enough traction on the first leg and today the suspension was too soft. The car still needs work and there wasn’t enough time to make a difference today, but there’s a long way to go in the championship yet.”Making his first appearance in Kuwait and competing in only his second ever rally, Mohamed al-Sahlawi edged out Abu Dhabi Racing team-mate Mohamed al-Mutawaa to win the new two-wheel drive class which has been introduced into the championship this season.Partnered by Irish co-driver Allan Harryman in a Citroën DS3 R3 2WD, al-Sahlawi finished a highly commendable 12th overall, one place ahead of al-Mutawaa, as the two young Emirati drivers gained valuable experience.Said al-Sahlawi: “I wanted to push harder today as I’m getting used to the car, but with the other cars kicking up sand it was very difficult to see, so I was just happy to make it to the finish ramp.”Al-Mutawaa, accompanied by Irish co-driver Stephen McAuley, had his one difficult moment on today’s second stage. “We got lost on the stage and it cost us three minutes.” he said. “But the car was going great and I had no problems with it at all.”