The second loop of stages on Friday decimated the field: neither of the QMMF Peugeots were able to restart on Saturday after engine issues. Similar problems sidelined Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez’s Škoda and Ihab Al-Shorafa sustained a rib fracture in his seventh stage accident and also retired.
SS8
That meant just 10 FIA cars started the eighth Al-Akak (25.30km) stage – the longest of the rally – with 10 cars following in the Oman National Rally.
Al-Attiyah had to work hard for his stage win: Al-Rawahi was only 4.7 seconds behind the Qatari but the defending champion’s overall advantage grew to 45.9 seconds. After additional spare parts arrived overnight, Bakhashab began his fight back through the field with the third quickest time.
Shaker Jweihan extended his comfortable lead in MERC2, as all 10 crews completed the stage.
Zakariya Al-Ofi stopped in the first stage of the morning and his demise lifted Saif Al-Harthy into the lead in the National Rally. Salim Al-Touqi claimed the stage win but Hafidh Al-Naamani also stopped for a while near the start of the stage. Haitham Soomar and Hamood Al-Touqi did not start the stage.
SS9
Yanboa (13.84km) was the second stage of the loop and just two seconds separated the leading duo with Al-Attiyah earning another stage win to stretch his advantage to 47.9 seconds. Both Al-Attiyah and Al-Rawahi sustained slow punctures.
Jweihan again got the better of his MERC2 rivals to retain fourth place behind Al-Atya. All 10 FIA cars made it through the stage.
Al-Harthy retained a comfortable lead over Al-Touqi in the Oman National Rally with the stage win.
SS10
Rahab (18.92km) was the last stage of a rapid-fire morning loop before the return to Sohar for service.
Al-Attiyah stopped the clocks in 9min 56.9sec, beat a troubled Al-Rawahi by 1min 30.8sec and headed to the regroup with a lead of 2min 18.7sec seconds. Al-Rawahi sustained a second puncture in as many stages and had to refit a punctured tyre to make it back to Sohar.
Had Al-Rawahi’s massive time delay sealed a record-breaking ninth Oman win for Al-Attiyah with three stages to run?
All 10 cars safely made it to the midday point with no movement in the general classification.
Al-Harthy was again the quickest of the National Rally runners and took a lead of 5min 11.8sec over Al-Touqi into the regroup.
Quotes from Sohar regroup – after SS10
Al-Attiyah said: “We did a good job today and we kept the pace. We accept one puncture on stage nine.”
Al-Rawahi said: “We had two punctures. One in the middle one and one on the last stage. We had to come back to the service (refitted a punctured tyre). I’m glad we made it.”
Al-Atya said: “I’m happy and keeping the pace the same. The first one, there was no wind and the dust was remaining and we could not see exactly. We were careful and then we started to push in the second one.”
Jweihan said: “Three rough stages to go. The stages are smashed, honestly. There are a lot of ruts and jumps and flats. You cannot go flat out in our car. We have a comfortable lead (MERC2). Hopefully everyone comes back safe and sound but we are waiting for a mistake from the guys up front to get to the podium. If that happens, that would be good.”
Bakhashab said: “The goal is to finish and to learn as much as possible. It’s a nice rally. The stages were amazing. A lot of very high-speed and technical, a mix of both. It’s a very good opportunity to learn here. Hopefully, I can reach the finish in good shape and score as many points as possible.”
