Nasser Al Attiyah wins his 17th Jordan Rally title
DOHA: Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah cruised to a comfortable 17th victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday.
The success took the iconic Škoda Fabia RS driver to a record 90th career MERC rally win, as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. The new partnership with his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera has a 100% winning record with the duo now taking victories at the opening four rounds of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan.
Al Attiyah said, 'I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me. This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.'
Qatar's Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups with their Citroen C3 but struggled to match the pace of the leading duo on this occasion. They did enough to round off the podium places.
Abdullah Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud maintained the pressure on Al Attiyah throughout day one but a time-consuming puncture delayed the Omani on Saturday's opening Panorama stage and a second issue on stage 10 proved too much for the 2023 regional champion. He finished second overall.
Qatar's Nasser Khalifa Al Atya continued his run of consistent form to bring his Ford Fiesta to the Dead Sea finish in sixth overall with co-driver Ziad Chehab. That result was sufficient for the Qatari veteran to seal success in the inaugural FIA Master MERC Championship with two rounds to run.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
2 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Max takes blame for crash with Russell
Max Verstappen has issued a veiled apology for his wild crash with George Russell by admitting it 'was not right and should have not happened.' The four-time Formula One world champion was hit with a 10-second penalty by the stewards for causing a collision with Russell with two laps remaining of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix. Russell said he felt Verstappen's move was deliberate and accused the Red Bull driver of letting himself down. He also suggested that Verstappen should have been disqualified for the crash. (PA Media/DPA)
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
The worst race I have experienced: Hamilton bemoans Spain performance
A demoralized Lewis Hamilton described his latest Ferrari horror show at Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix as one of the worst races he has ever experienced. Hamilton was ordered by Ferrari to move aside for team-mate Charles Leclerc on lap 10 and was then passed by Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg in the closing laps. Hamilton finished seventh but moved up one place to sixth in the final classification following Max Verstappen's sanction. Leclerc took the chequered flag in third to land his third podium of the season, but Hamilton is yet to take a top-three finish in nine Ferrari starts. He is 23 points behind Leclerc, and 115 adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri. 'I have no idea why it was so bad,' said 40-year-old Hamilton. 'That was the worst race I have experienced, balance-wise.' Quizzed as to whether he could take any positives from Sunday's performance, the seven-time world champion replied: 'Zero.' And then asked where he goes from here, Hamilton answered: 'Home.' Hamilton added: 'The team did a great job and that is all I can say. (PA Media/DPA)
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Piastri beats Norris for Spanish GP pole
DPA Barcelona Championship leader Oscar Piastri conjured up a special lap to beat McLaren team-mate Lando Norris on Saturday and take pole position for the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix. The Australian was a mere 0.017 seconds behind Norris after his first flying lap in Q3, but put up a better performance in his second attempt to clock 1 minute 11.546 seconds and claim his fourth pole of the season. Former F1 driver David Coulthard praised Piastri's performance, saying: 'I think this is one of those moments where you go 'I remember where I was when I saw one of the best shootouts for pole position in some time'.' Piastri replied that his lap 'wasn't perfect.' 'But happy with what I put in. It has been a good weekend so far,' he said. Norris, who had benefited from a little tow from Piastri in the first lap, finished 0.209 behind his team-mate. The Red Bull of four-time defending champion Max Verstappen completed the top three, 0.302 off the pace. 'Oscar drove very well. The pace was there, just a couple of mistakes and yeah, didn't do it,' said Norris, who took pole in Spain last year but was beaten by Verstappen. The Dutchman, however, thinks that it will be 'tough to beat' McLaren this time in Sunday's race. 'We were lacking all weekend compared to them, but we executed well and that third position is where we should be. I'm here, squeezing everything out of the car,' Verstappen said. His performance was at least much better than the one of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who will start the race in last. Following Norris' win in Monaco last weekend, Piastri retained his lead in the standings, but only three points ahead of his team-mate. McLaren have dominated the season, with Piastri winning four and Norris two of the eight races so far. Verstappen is the only non-McLaren driver to claim victory at a grand prix this year, having won in Japan and Imola. The Mercedes of George Russell qualified fourth, followed by the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli. Charles Leclerc was seventh after he failed to resume the session following his first lap in Q3, but Ferrari did not explain why he had not returned to the track. Pierre Gasly of Alpine was eighth and Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls was ninth. Home favourite Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin was 10th quickest as he was cheered by the Spanish crowd. But compatriot Carlos Sainz was only 18th with the Williams. Starting Grid Front row: Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren), Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren) 2nd row: Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull), George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 3rd row: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Ferrari), Kimi Antonelli (ITA/Mercedes) 4th row: Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine) 5th row: Isack Hadjar (FRA/RB), Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin) 6th row: Alex Albon (THA/Williams), Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/Sauber) 7th row: Liam Lawson (NZL/RB), Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin) 8th row: Oliver Bearman (GBR/Haas), Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Sauber) 9th row: Esteban Ocon (FRA/Haas), Carlos Sainz (ESP/Williams) 10th rowcTypeface:> Franco Colapinto (ARG/Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/Red Bull).
