MERC: Al Attiyah secures ninth FIA Middle East Rally Championship with dominant victory in Cyprus

Nicosia, Cyprus 13^th October, 2013- This weekend Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his ninth FIA Middle East Rally Championship with a dominant victory at the 2013 Cyprus Rally. Winning all but one of the 17 stages, the Qatari put in a flawless performance behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta RRC.

Nasser Al-Attiyah said: “We have all worked very hard to secure the win here [in Cyprus] so I am very happy to have taken my ninth [MERC] title with such a victory. The championship is very important to me – it’s good for the team, for Qatar, for our sponsors and for everyone who has supported us over the years. I hope we can continue like this. Next we head to Dubai where it will be important for us to battle for first place again. I am sure that a lot of people will want to win there, but we will do all that we can to secure another victory.”

As the fifth and penultimate round of the series, the action kick-started on Friday evening with Al-Attiyah and co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini winning the opening speed test. Following that first stage win, the pairing did not look back – maintaining the lead and winning the championship in style with almost a three minute advantage over their nearest rival. The victory marked the Olympian’s fourth this season and 49th to date.

After a series of problems on the previous day Al Qassimi had to show all his fighting qualities to climb from third position overnight alongside co-driver Scott Martin in their Abu Dhabi Citroën Total DS3. The Emirati driver reached the finish back in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, 2min 51.8 secs away from Al Attiyah’s Ford Fiesta, having won a spectacular day-long battle with another Qatari, Abdulaziz Al Kuwairi, edging him out by 4.7 seconds for the second podium spot.

That finish had looked in doubt when, early on the day’s first of eight special stages, Al Qassimi suffered a puncture and had to drive with caution for the next 11kms. By the end of the stage, however he had overhauled Al Kuwairi who punctured on the same section, and then spent the rest of the day trying desperately to catch the Abu Dhabi Citroën.

But while Al Qassimi had no hope of blocking Al Attiyah’s path to victory after his mechanical and dust problems on the previous leg, the Abu Dhabi Racing driver stayed calm under pressure to strengthen his grip on second place in the championship. He will now try to round off the debut season for Abu Dhabi Racing next month by beating the Qatari to score a third career victory in the Dubai International Rally, the final round of the Middle East series.

Al Qassimi had reached the service halt on completion of the day’s first loop of four special stages to say: “We started the first stage with good momentum but then after 3km we hit a rock on the side of the road and that left us with a flat front right tyre. I had to take it easy on the left corners to prevent the tyre sliding off the rim. But after yesterday’s problems we made some changes overnight and started with the car feeling much better today. I’m seeing a lot of lines from the two cars in front of me that look a bit dangerous to take. But if I don’t take them I lose a lot of time. The question is, do you take the risk, and that’s what’s going on in my head right now.”

Earlier in the day it had emerged that Al Attiyah had gone perilously close to going out of the rally on Saturday’s last of eight special stages when his car hit a rock that had been pulled out of the ground on the racing line. The impact broke the sump guard, cross member and steering rack, and at one point retirement looked possible, but the Qatari survived to reach the service park where the damaged parts were replaced.

Seashore Qatar Rally Team’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Killian Duffy claimed third place to seal a double podium for M-Sport’s Fiesta RRC. Having been running in a strong second place for much of the event, Al-Kuwari came tantalisingly close to securing a one-two for the Cumbrian outfit – finishing just 4.7 seconds adrift of the runner-up spoils.

M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:“A big congratulations to Nasser [Al-Attiyah] and Giovanni [Bernacchini] on securing such a dominant victory in Cyprus last weekend. To win any championship nine times is an incredible feat.  Congratulations must also be paid to Abdulaziz [Al-Kuwari] and Killian [Duffy] for another impressive performance. They have shown huge progress this year and I am looking forward to seeing how they develop behind the wheel of the Fiesta RS WRC in Spain.

Cyprus Rally provisional results:

1. Nasser Al Atiyah / G. Bernacchini  QAT/ITA Ford  Fiesta RRC                          2:35:17.6

2. Shk Khalid Al Qassimi / S.Martin UAE/GBR Abu Dhabi Citroen DS3 RRC      2:38:09.4

3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / K.Duffy QAT/IRE Ford Fiesta RRC                               2:38:14.1

4. Misfer Al Marri / N.Arena QAT/ITA  Ford Fiesta RRC                                        2:45:16.9

5. Costas Georgiou / E. Pieri CYP/CYP Mitsubishi Lancer EVO  IX                       2:48:23.9

6. Kyriacos Kyriacou / C.Aristidou CYP/CYP Subaru  Impreza                               2:51:08.1

 

2013 FIA Middle East Rally Championship standings after 5 of 6 rounds:

1.         Nasser Al Attiyah                   118pts

2.         Sh. Khalid Al Qassimi            69pts

3.         Abdulaziz Al Kuwari              57pts

4.         Roger Reghali                         43pts

5.         Sh. Abdulla Al Qassimi          30pts