Following the opening round held in Qatar, the Middle East Rally Championship moves on to Kuwait this coming weekend.Competing in the Abu Dhabi Citron World Rally Teams Citroen DS3 RRC, Khalid Al-Qassimi and Scott Martin will be aiming for another good result as they go after the continental title.
Featuring only six rounds, the FIA Middle East Rally Championship leaves no room for error for those hoping to win the title. Khalid Al-Qassimi and Scott Martin made a strong start to their season in finishing as runners-up in the opening round, held in Qatar at the end of January. I think we made a strong impression in Citroen Racings first rally in the Middle East, recalled Khalid. We were in contention for the win from the very outset and were even leading after the first leg. We ended up finishing second after picking up a puncture, but it was still a very good result. We are going to keep working to improve the performance of the Citroen DS3 RRC on the regions road surfaces.
The second round of the MERC will be held in the Kuwaiti desert on quick, sandy roads, which in general are not as rough as those in Qatar. The difficulties, however, remain the same: identify the line through what can be very similar surroundings, keep out of trouble whilst racing at high speed and look after the tyres as much as possible, despite the harsh conditions.
With nine Regional Rally Cars competing, the rally promises to be close. Winner here in 2010, Khalid Al- Qassimi does not however see victory this year as absolutely essential: Insofar as our goal is to win the championship, above all we must score lots of points in each round. Obviously, I want to win the rally, but Ill be content with a podium finish if things do not work out in my favour.
The Kuwait International Rally will also provide the two young Emirati drivers selected by Abu Dhabi Racingand Citroen Racing with another opportunity to add to their competitive rallying experience. Racing in Citroen DS3 R3s, Mohamed Al Sahlawi/Alan Harryman and Mohammed Al Mutawaa/Stephen McCauley will be the only crews fighting it out for victory in the two-wheel drive category. And as was the case in Qatar, they will also be looking to challenge for a top 10 place in the overall standings.
The rally will be held over two days of similar length, featuring a total of 242km of stages. Racing gets underway on Friday 22 March at 9.00am (GMT+3), finishing on Saturday at 4.30pm local time.
