SS2
A first run through the 15.69km of Ar-Rusays kickstarted the day’s action. Al-Rawahi pushed Al-Attiyah to the limit, although the Qatari was able to extend his overnight lead to 9.6 seconds with the stage win.
Bakhashab retained third place and Jweihan led the MERC2 field. A mere 0.5 seconds separated the two QMMF Rally4 Peugeots in Al-Marri’s favour.
Lebanon’s Shadi El Fakih had been plagued by technical issues on Thursday and was not able to start the first of Friday’s stages. Mohammed Al-Shorafa rolled his Mitsubishi but was able to complete the special with the loss of around 20 minutes.
Saif Al-Harthy was the fastest of the National Rally runners and moved into the outright lead.
SS3
The Ar-Rassah stage (19.22km) followed quickly and an impressive Al-Rawahi claimed the stage win by just eight-tenths of a second and trimmed Al-Attiyah’s lead to 8.8 seconds.
Jweihan continued to control the narrative in MERC2 and held fifth position behind Bakhashab and Al-Atya. Al-Muhannadi increased his cushion over Al-Marri to 11.8 seconds in the Rally4 duel. Zakariya Al-Aamri dropped five minutes and slipped to 12th place.
SS4
The last stage of the morning’s loop was Al-Uwaynah (13.99km). Al-Attiyah managed to beat Al-Rawahi by 3.4 seconds and headed to the regroup and service stop in Sohar with a midway lead of 12.2 seconds.
Bakhashab and Al-Atya retained third and fourth overall. Al-Aamri was back up to full speed but Jweihan remained the dominant force in MERC2.
Quotes from Sohar regroup – after SS4
Al-Attiyah said: “Very good. We had a good pace without any risks. It was just to get a good feeling after Dakar. It is not easy with a small car. Abdullah is at home and knows the stages well, but we have a good pace. The stages will be cleaner this afternoon and we should have better times but we take it really easy.”
Al-Rawahi said: “It was a good first loop for us. We are trying to be clean and push at the same time. It is not easy. We are trying to control the pace. I am still not very comfortable with the car. I think I still need to get used to the brakes. Overall, it’s getting better. Always a bonus to get a stage win but we are looking forward to the rest of the event. It is easy to do a mistake on these high-speed stages.”
Bakhashab said: “It was good to be honest. First time in Oman and the first time in these stages. We are getting used to the car and the stages. It’s fun. It’s a different world (side-by-sides in W2RC). This is only my second time driving a rally car, so I am adapting a lot and every single turn is a learning curve for me. I’m getting used to it. It’s going well. I like it.”
Al-Atya said: “Quite happy with the start. I have a good pace. Unfortunately, I have a little bit of misfiring from the exhaust system. I hope they cam fix it now. I am trying to get the car back.”
Jweihan said: “All good and all went according to plan. We will see. No big risks. It’s a long rally but the stages are already rough in places with a lot of stones. Some of the places are repeated tomorrow.”
