UAE International Rally - 25-28 Jan 06

Posted: January 30, 2006 11:24 AM

After 13 timed desert special stages in the Sweihan and Al-Ain areas of the Abu Dhabi emirate, Al-Attiyah emerged victorious by a tiny margin of seven seconds in a nailbiting finish, with the UAE's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and co-driver Nick Beech losing their overnight lead on the final corners of the last gravel stage of the event.

"Fantastic," said a jubilant Al-Attiyah. "I must credit Khalid on making this an amazing rally. It was very exciting. I thought that I could do it, but it was very close and I needed to pull out all the reserves to push hard on the last stage."

Al-Qassimi began the day with a 53-second lead over the defending champion, but Al-Attiyah whittled the advantage down to 48s after SS8 and to an ominous 31s after the 26 kms Dam stage. At the service point in Al-Ain, after the 10th special stage, the margin was a mere 22s and there was a genuine cause for concern in Al-Qassimi's service area after a thrilling morning's competition.

His team mechanics made minor suspension adjustments at the service point and, over the closing loop of three stages, the drama intensified. Al-Attiyah shaved two seconds off his morning's time and reduced Al-Qassimi's advantage to 18s ahead of the final run through the Dam stage. Al-Qassimi upped his pace and Al-Attiyah arrived at the start of the final stage 10s behind his rival.

It was a gripping finale to the opening round of the series. The 12.87 kms of the 13th Border stage settled the contest in Al-Attiyah's favour on the closest finale to a Middle East rally in many years. The Qatari set a sensation time of 6m 55s, beating his morning's run of 7m 12s to beat his Pirelli-backed UAE rival by a mere seven seconds.

"I had no option but to push hard today," said a distraught Al-Qassimi. "But I also had to make sure that I made no mistakes. It was very exciting. I cannot remember a rally where I felt so focused and so determined. It was a great battle and this is fantastic for the rest of the championship."

"I think that was probably the best performance that Khalid has driven in his career so far," said an impressed Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Chairman of the Automobile Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates, at the official finish at the Hilton Hotel in Al-Ain. "It was a great way for us to kick-off the first round of the championship here in the UAE. I remember many close finishes during my time in the championship and it was fascinating to see this battle unfold today."

The UAE's Sheikh Suhail bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum and Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi played a bit part in the overall action on the second leg, but finished in solid third and fourth places overall to get their championship campaigns off to useful starts.

Jordanians Amjad Farrah and Khaled Zakaria became embroiled in a gripping tussle with Qatar's Misfer Al-Marri and Adel Hussein for much of the afternoon, with seconds separating the Mitsubishi duo over the closing leg. The difference was a mere five seconds after the 10th stage and Farrah moved a further three clear in SS11. But Al-Marri hit back on the closing two stages to move into fifth place, beating his troubled rival by 20s.

Saudi Arabia's Ahmed Al-Sabban finished seventh overall in his Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Kuwait's Mufeed Mubarak was eighth, while the UAE's Sadiq Fadhel and Britain's Simon Nutter completed the top 10, the latter edging out his friend Ron Oakeley on the closing stages.

Twenty of the original 27 starters began the final six stages on Friday, but there were several retirements among the backmarkers. Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Al-Marri and the UAE's Yayha Al-Amri were both forced out of the running.

Additional support for the 2006 ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally came from Finance House, the Abu Dhabi Travel Bureau, Sky Electronic Line, AMD for computers, Gulf Commercial Group for photocopiers, Emirates Computers for Nokia telephones and GTS Towing Services.

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA)/Chris Patterson (GB) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 18m 46s
2. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Nick Beech (GB) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 18m 53s
3. Sheikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum (UAE)/Wael Marjan (UAE) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 23m 08s
4. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Steve Lancaster (GB) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 25m 54s
5. Misfer Al-Marri (QA)/Adel Hussein (QA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 2h 27m 06s
6. Amjad Farrah (HKJ)/Khaled Zakaria (HKJ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 2h 27m 26s
7. Ahmed Al-Sabban (KSA)/Killian Duffy (IRL) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 28m 14s
8. Mufeed Mubarak (KWT)/Saad Al-Melaifi (KWT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 2h 31m 31s
9. Sadiq Fadhel (UAE)/Imad Nabhan (UAE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 2h 32m 57s
10. Simon Nutter (GB)/Sean Kukula (GB) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 41m 10s
11. Ron Oakeley (UAE)/Jamie Turner (UAE) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2h 41m 31s

Automobile & Touring Club for United Arab Emirates

• 2006 Middle East Rally Championship

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• UAE'S SUHAIL BIN KHALIFA PREPARES FOR UAE INTERNATIONAL RALLY
  Veteran Michel Saleh relishes new rally season
• ENTRIES BEGIN TO FLOOD IN FOR ADNOC DISTRIBUTION UAE INTERNATIONAL RALLY

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22/01/06
UAE'S SUHAIL BIN KHALIFA PREPARES FOR UAE INTERNATIONAL RALLY
Veteran Michel Saleh relishes new rally season

The UAE's Sheikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum will begin his challenge for honours in this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship, when he tackles the 2006 ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally, being held under the patronage of His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the Minister of Interior, on January 25th-27th.

Al-Maktoum is one of the fastest and most talented drivers in the Middle East and finished third overall in last year's regional series at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX STi. This season the Dubai-based driver is taking his challenge for a maiden title more seriously and will wheel out a new Subaru at the start of the two-day event through the Abu Dhabi deserts around Sweihan and Al-Ain.

A former winner of the Dubai International Rally and a great rival of the 14-times Middle East champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem, as part of the Victory Rally Team in the 1990s, Sheikh Suhail returned to the special stages two years ago and immediately made an impact. Last year he shadowed eventual champion Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and the 2003 champion Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi on several rallies and exchanged fastest stage times with the other two front-runners on numerous occasions. Sheikh Suhail will be co-driven by Wael Marjan.

Meanwhile, Dubai-based Lebanese driver Michel Saleh and co-driver Ziad Chehab are relishing the start of the new season and will be hoping for better luck in 2006. Saleh is a former Gulf regional champion and has been rallying in the area since the series first began.

"It doesn't seem long since we rounded off last year with the event in Dubai and now we are preparing for another exciting season," said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Chairman of the Automobile Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates. "Suhail and Michel have been rallying in this region for many years and always give full commitment to their rallying. Their presence on the opening round is a major boost to the strength of this championship."

Additional support for the 2006 ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally comes from Finance House, the Abu Dhabi Travel Bureau, Sky Electronic Line, AMD for computers, Gulf Commercial Group for photocopiers, Emirates Computers for Nokia telephones and GTS Towing Services .

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ENTRIES BEGIN TO FLOOD IN FOR ADNOC DISTRIBUTION UAE INTERNATIONAL RALLY
UAE's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi aims to build upon Dubai success

Entries are flooding in for the 2006 ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally, which takes place on January 25th-27th. The event is being held under the patronage of His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the Minister of Interior.

The two-day rally is the opening round of the 2006 FIA Middle East Rally Championship and is being organised in Al-Ain for the second time by the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates. Among the first drivers to notify officials of his intention to compete is the 2004 FIA regional champion Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi. The UAE driver will use a Ron Cremen-run Subaru Impreza WRX STi Spec-C for a third successive season.

Al-Qassimi will team up with his new co-driver Nicky Beech for a fourth time, as he bids to build upon the terrific victory the pair earned in Dubai less than one month ago. Sheikh Khalid finished second overall in the 2005 championship, behind Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, who is currently in Lisbon preparing for the start of the 2006 Dakar Rally on New Year's Eve.

One of the first entries received by event officials came from the Kuwaiti 1600 driver Essam Al-Nejadi in his two-wheel drive Proton Wira. Al-Nejadi and his brother Meshal have been regular competitors in the region and Meshal clinched the 1600 title in Dubai earlier this month.

The first international entrant was Britain's David Scialom and co-driver Andy Tatham. David has been a regular in the regional championship for the last three seasons and will tackle the all-desert rally in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5. He finished sixth overall in Qatar in 2004, seventh in Oman and then took a fine fifth place in Dubai recently.

"We are expecting between 30 and 40 drivers to take part in the rally on the final entry list," said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Chairman of the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates. "We are delighted with the names we have received so far. It looks as though the 2006 Middle East series will be the most competitive in the history of the championship. Last year was a very exciting season and brought back many memories from the time when I was competing in the series on a regular basis."

Additional support for the 2006 ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally comes from Finance House, the Abu Dhabi Travel Bureau, Sky Electronic Line, AMD for computers, Gulf Commercial Group for photocopiers, Emirates Computers for Nokia telephones and GTS Towing Services .

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AL-AIN BASED UAE INTERNATIONAL RALLY SET TO KICK-START MIDDLE EAST RALLY SEASON
Al-Ain to again host opening round of MERC;
UAE opener to precede seven further MERC events

The ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally will be held under the patronage of His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Minister of Interior, and will kick-start the 2006 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) on January 25th-27th. The event will be organised by the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates.

Next year's prestigious rally series will be fought out over eight, two-day special stage rallies and the emirate of Abu Dhabi has again been chosen to get the series underway. For the second successive season the garden city of Al-Ain will play host to the rally, after the success of the inaugural event in the city last February.

Organisers are currently finalising details of the route and timetable, but officials have confirmed that the event will consist of two legs of gravel stages in the Al-Ain and Sweihan areas of Abu Dhabi.

"We are delighted to again host the opening round of next year's FIA Middle East Championship," said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Chairman of the Organising Committee and himself a 14-times FIA Middle East rally champion. "The switch to Al-Ain last season was well received by competitors and the media and we are keen to build upon that success with another first class event at the end of January."

Last year's FIA Middle East rally series was the best supported on record and officials are confident that the 2006 FIA Middle East Rally Championship will attract a whole host of the region's top drivers from as far afield as Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait and Syria.

Both the UAE's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi have already pledged a full assault at the championship in 2006 and the UAE's Sheikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum is also determined to build upon the impressive return to the sport he made at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX STi in 2005.

Next year's championship features several minor timetable amendments, with the Qatar International Rally slotting into the calendar as the second round in February. Registered teams will then head to the Sultanate of Oman in March and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan at the end of May for rounds three and four.

After a four-week break, the series will then resume with the all-tarmac Rally of Lebanon at the end of June, the Syria international Rally in September, a visit to the Troodos mountains in Cyprus at the start of November and the traditional finale in Dubai at the start of December. The Bahrain Motor Federation recently confimed that the Bahrain Rally will not run in 2006.

"We hope that everyone connected with this year's ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally enjoys their stay in Al-Ain," added Ben Sulayem. "The city is looking forward to welcoming competitors, officials, VIPs and members of the media."

The event will be based for the second season at the Hilton Al-Ain and will be supported by Finance House, the Abu Dhabi Travel Bureau, Sky Electronic Line, AMD for computers, Gulf Commercial Group for photocopiers, Emirates Computers for Nokia telephones and GTS Towing Services .

Automobile & Touring Club for United Arab Emirates

• 2006 Middle East Rally Championship