WRC: Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi triumphs in Sweden as Al Ketbi flies UAE flag to the finish

WRC Round 2 – KARLSTAD (Sweden): Sweden’s Anders Grøndal began the final leg with a slender 4.5-second advantage over Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi, with Germany’s Sepp Wiegand in third position. The Swede and the Saudi were locked in a tense tussle over the closing stages and Al-Rajhi snatched an excellent victory after the 22nd stage by the margin of 43.5 seconds. Wiegand finished third.

Yazeed Al Rajhi took maximum points in the WRC 2 category of Rally Sweden after demoting overnight leader Anders Grondal to second. Al Rajhi, driving a Ford Fiesta RRC, had closed on the WRC 2 lead throughout Saturday’s competition and finally got past Grondal on Sunday’s opening stage.

The Saudi, co-driven by Michael Orr, went on to win five of the final day’s six stages, pulling further ahead of Grondal to finish with a healthy margin of 43.5sec. The result moves him third in the championship on a total of 25 points.

“It was a difficult race but I’m delighted because I had only done one snow rally before this one, so I didn’t have a lot of experience,” said Al Rajhi. It’s a good result for me, the team, and my co-driver. And of course a great start to my WRC 2 campaign. I’ve learned a lot and I hope to make more improvements step-by-step as the season goes on,” he added.

Long-time class leader Grondal put up a valiant fight in his older and heavier Group N Subaru Impreza but had no answer to Yazeed’s pace on Sunday. “I’m still satisfied because I think I’ve done the best I can,” said the Norwegian. “This is the fastest I can go in this car, so I’m happy with the set-up, the team and everything. I won Group N, so I’m happy.”

“I need more experience on the ice and snow so being honest we had no chance for first or second,” he said. “We found a good speed and it made no sense to push because we needed to stay on the road and think about the points. We learned a lot and I’m happy with what we achieved. It’s a good result for our championship.”

Skydive Dubai Rally Team (UAE) driver Rashid Al-Ketbi and his German co-driver Karina Hepperle flew the UAE flag with pride and survived the rigours of the Swedish Rally, one of the most demanding events in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar. They held on to confirm eighth overall in WRC2 at the podium in Karlstad late on Sunday afternoon.

The performance meant that Al-Ketbi was the only Emirati driver to finish the notoriously difficult event after Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi’s Citroën DS3 WRC succumbed to engine problems after an accident on Saturday evening.

Despite the sub-zero temperatures, the snowy stages and the treacherously slippery road surfaces – even with the permitted metal studded tyres – the Emirati Skoda Fabia S2000 driver kept his composure superbly to secure more valuable points in his quest for the WRC2 title.

After slipping to 10th in the WRC2 category mid-way through Saturday’s daunting special stages, Al-Ketbi was able to adjust his stage pace and begin a climb back through the field. By the end of SS16, he had moved back up to eighth position and he survived the rigours of Sunday’s remaining six stages to confirm an excellent WRC2 finish.

“I knew from the start that this was going to be a tough rally where mistakes would be costly,” said Al-Ketbi. “The goal was to finish and I managed to do that and score some points as well. It was a really useful learning curve for me to come here and compete in these conditions and it puts me in a good position for the next rally in the championship.”

The Skydive Dubai Rally Team is running in the 2013 WRC under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council.

Frenchman Sébastien Ogier started the event’s remaining six stages leading the event outright by 26.9 seconds, as he stayed on course to give Volkswagen Motorsport their first ever win with the Polo WRC.

After kissing his car at the end of the final stage, a jubilant Ogier was quick to pay tribute to his team. “I must thank them because they have given me a perfect car all weekend. I’ve never had a car like that. Unbelievable,” he said.

Sébastien Ogier “The win here was amazing but also a big surprise. We have spent so much time and effort with the team in preparation – all of last year – but we never expected to have this performance so soon. It couldn’t be better. This morning Sebastien was putting a lot of pressure on. He was flying into the stages. We tried to follow him without maximum risk but we had to push because he was so fast. To win like that is amazing,” he added.

Defending FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb attacked over the first few stages and finished second, 41.8 seconds behind Ogier, in his Citroën Total Abu Dhabi DS3 WRC. Loeb now trails Ogier by three points in the Drivers’ Championship.

The UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi lost considerable time in a snow bank on day one and then suffered radiator damage after an accident on Saturday. He was unable to start the final day after suffering engine damage.

1.   Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia 2.   Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena 3.   Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson 4.   Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila 5.   Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul 6.   Juho Hänninen/Tomi Tuominen 7.   Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst 8.   Henning Solberg/Emil Axelsson 9.   Evgeny Novikov/Ilka Minor 10. Yazeed Al Rajhi/Michal Orr

Volkswagen Polo R WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Volkswagen Polo R WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RRC (WRC 2)

3 hr 11 min 41.9sec 3 hr 12 min 23.7sec 3 hr 13 min 06.4sec 3 hr 13 min 12.5sec 3 hr 16 min 48.3sec 3 hr 17 min 25.0sec 3 hr 23 min 07.3sec 3 hr 23 min 24.6sec 3 hr 24 min 46.6sec 3 hr 28 min 08.9sec

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 2 of 13 rounds)

Sébastien Ogier (FRA) Sébastien Loeb (FRA) Mads Østberg (NOR) Dani Sordo (ESP) Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) Martin Prokop (CZE) Bryan Bouffier (FRA) Thierry Neuville (BEL) Juho Hanninen (FIN) Sepp Weigand (DEU) Henning Solberg (NOR) Olivier Burri (CHE) Evgeny Novikov (RUS) Michal Kosciuszko (POL) Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU)

46 points 43 points 24 points 15 points 14 points 12 points 12 points 10 points 10 points 8 points 4 points 4 points 2 points 2 points 1 point 1 point

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 2 of 13 rounds)

Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Volkswagen Motorsport Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team Lotos WRC Team Qatar World Rally Team Jipocar Czech National Team

57 points 55 points 31 points 15 points 12 points 10 points 8 points