Twenty of the original 23 entrants returned for the final morning’s action with three crews reappearing under the Rally2 ruling.
Sami Fleifel’s run to 12th overall and second in MERC2 came to an end in the service park at Lusail on Friday evening when the Jordanian discovered terminal engine issues on his Mitsubishi Lancer.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi also retired at the night halt. The Omani had suffered several time-consuming punctures during leg one and was also complaining of back pain as a result of his injury in Lebanon last year.
Mohammed Al-Atteya (Can-Am) did not restart after engine issues on Friday.
SS7
The longest stage of the rally was Umm Birka at 22.98km and that was first on the agenda in cool and cloudy conditions.
Runaway leader Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah opened the road and clocked the target time of 11min 29.6sec. That run was 22 seconds quicker than Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari’s and the defending champion increased his lead to 1min 54sec.
Hamza Bakhashab began to eat into Mohammed Al-Marri’s hold on third place. He trimmed the Qatar’s advantage by 5.1 seconds to 1min 14.1sec.
Shaker Jweihan extended his MERC2 lead over closest rival Zakariya Al-Aamri to 4min 56.5sec with the fastest time.
The four-way tussle for Rally4 honours had been the highlight of Friday afternoon’s action. Khalifa Saleh-Attiyah began the day with a 3.2-second lead over Rashid Al-Muhannadi but succumbed to mechanical issues in the stage and retired. Al-Muhannadi grabbed the lead and extended his advantage over Nouef Al-Sowaidi to 24.6 seconds.
Payyaakkal Saneem retired his Ford Fiesta Rally4 with ongoing technical issues before the stage and returned to Lusail.
Eighteen crews remained in the rally.
SS8
Ras Laffan is better known as Qatar’s primary hub for natural gas production and export but the desert tracks near the ‘gas capital of the world’ hosted stage eight that ran for 16.73km.
Al-Attiyah increased his lead over Al-Kuwari to 1min 58.9sec with the fastest time. Al-Marri continued to defend his final place on the podium and only ceded 2.9 seconds to Bakhashab.
Jweihan and Al-Muhannadi continued to lead the MERC2 and MERC4 categories.
SS9
Al-Thakira (15.28km), north of Al-Khor, was the last stage of the early morning loop.
Al-Attiyah suffered his first major time loss of the entire weekend with a broken rear-left wheel and finished the stage 48.5 seconds slower than Al-Kuwari. He retained a ‘lead’ of 1min 10.4sec on the return to Lusail for the mid-leg regroup and service.
Al-Attiyah was forced to change the wheel and make emergency repairs on the side of the road after the stage. But the rear left suspension was also damaged, the wheel was hanging at an angle and there was a small fire when he began the return to service. The Qatari tried a couple of times to make further repairs and made it back to Lusail within his maximum lateness, albeit on three rotating wheels.
Bakhashab was second quickest behind Al-Kuwari, despite a slow puncture, and trimmed Al-Marri’s hold on third place to 49.7 seconds. Al-Marri missed one corner and lost valuable seconds.
Eighteen cars remained in the rally.
Quotes from Lusail – after SS9:
Al-Kuwari said: “I was going much faster and getting more mileage in the car. The first stage, I passed the finish line too fast after a big jump. We went left and came back to enter the boards and we lost 10 or 12 seconds. The pace was good. The second one, we were only five seconds behind Nasser. We won the last stage, but bravo to Hamza and Mohammed (Al-Marri), their pace is very good. They are the future. I hope that Nasser can continue because I want to win when Nasser is there. Still too early to think about the win, but if he stops I will be a taxi driver for the last three stages!”
Al-Marri said: “We missed one corner on the last stage and lost maybe 20 seconds to Hamza. We will consider that and so higher pace now than this morning. We are trusting the car more now and getting the feeling.”
Al Atya: “The last stage was really tough. There was a lot of dust. I think, for the future, this needs to be looked at. It was more like a zig-zag, mickey-mouse stage. I saw Nasser at the end of the stage with a broken (suspension) arm.”
Bakhashab said: “Trying to push. The first stage was a bit tricky. I was caring and being aware of punctures. The last stage was very nice. I was pushing and had a slow puncture that we changed at the finish. All okay, now looking ahead for the big push for the final loop.”
Sweihan said: “We bent our rear arm on the first kilometre of the first stage. I don’t know why or how. Thankfully, we didn’t have to push. That last stage was really rough. I saw Nasser and tried to see if he wanted any help. I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
