Alloh and al-Kuwari claim top honours

Ahmed Alloh and co-driver Nasser al-Kuwari claimed top honours in the fourth round of the 2018 Manateq Qatar National Baja Championship yesterday but Sheikh Hamad bin Eid al-Thani maintained his overall lead despite a fourth place finish.The 267km rally had two special stages at Sealine before the drivers headed back to the QMMF headquarters at Losail for the podium ceremony.QMMF CEO, Sultan bin Zahir al-Muraikhi, and Manateq Director of the Office of Chief Executive Officer and Public Relations Manager, Ibrahim bin Issa al-Fadalah, crowned the champions at the end of the event.“We are very happy. It was a perfect round for us. The new route device the QMMF gave us proved very helpful,” said al-Kuwari. “In the past drivers would get lost during events but this time it didn’t happen.”He added that a “tricky” spot on the route posed a problem but they negotiated it safely.“There was one tricky spot where we had to negotiate muddy terrain. Most of the drivers thought they would get stuck, but we decided to go for it. Everyone else got a penalty but we didn’t,” added al-Kuwari.Al-Kuwari said the strong field was challenging. “It was a really tough but I am happy we won despite it. We are determined to do well in local events.”Abdullah al-Rabban set the fastest time on stage one which ran for almost 70km, followed by Mohamed al-Harqan who came second six minutes back, while Mohamed al-Meer finished the stage in third.On the second stage, al-Harqan was the fastest driver ahead of Alloh, who finally won the rally, while third place went to al-Meer.Despite his fourth place, Sheikh Hamad maintained his lead with 57 points, ahead of  al-Meer with 42 points and Nayef al-Nasr on 40.Some driver force to retired in the second stage, Abdullah Rabban stopping due to punctures, Rashid al-Mohanadi delayed and passed time exceeded and Mohamed al-Attiyah with mechanical failure (gearbox). 12/2/2018