To have a winning start in the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally in the shorter world series was extremely crucial and Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah, fresh from his third Dakar Rally crown, was feeling ‘great and happy’ following his sixth triumph in eight years here on Tuesday.
The local 48-year-old star rallyist made his intentions clear right from the word go and led the leaderboard before coming home with French co-driver Matthieu Baumel with a comfortable lead of over 11 minutes.
He had also won this rally when it was the candidate event and called the Qatar International Baja in 2011. For Baumel, it was his fifth title.
The FIA has separated the cross-country rally raids from the Baja and this year there will be only five rounds making up the World Cup for the Cross-Country Rallies.
Last year, Attiyah had skipped the two rounds (Abu Dhabi and Dubai) after his win in Russia. And the terminal engine issues had denied him the victory in Qatar despite being into the leading position.
So in these contexts, Attiyah made sure that he had a perfect start to his bid for the fifth World Cup. “Yeah, it is a great start for us. I am delighted with my win in the home round. I was leading right from the start and regained the title with a clean performance,” he commented at majestic The Pearl-Qatar, the venue of the prize distribution ceremony.
“This year, we have a shorter World Cup with five rounds, compared to the previous years. So it was very important for me to win here, straight after the Dakar Rally.
“It was not a difficult win but the terrain in the Manateq QCCR is always a major challenge. We led till the finish and completed the job well,” he added.
His did not finish (DNF) in the 2018 QCCR had triggered a bad phase and Attiyah was let down by his car in most of the important rallies. But this time, his Toyota Hilux has come out with flying colours in the Dakar Rally earlier this year and the QCCR 2019 triumph has confirmed it to be a strong force for the future.
“Last year, the car was undergoing the developmental phase. We fixed certain things and now we have a reliable car. We hope to continue getting good results,” Attiyah said.
“I’m already thinking about the next rally in Abu Dhabi. It is surely a long way but we’re looking to become the world champion again. I also want to thank all the teams who came to participate this year,” Attiyah added hinting that: “I will wait and you can get all the information (about it) from the QMMF.”
Baumel commented: “I want to thank (the QMMF) for the good organisation and the marshals who were working in the rally… they did a good job. The navigation is very tricky. Every day you struggle with lines and finding a good way through the check points.
“You are always happy when you finish the rally here. It is crucial to win this rally for the world championship and we will see what happens next,” the Frenchman added.
By Raajiv Tripathi
