Khalid Al-Qassimi and Scott Martin finished as runners-up at the Cyprus Rally to keep up their uninterrupted run of podium-finishes in the Middle East Rally Championship. The Abu Dhabi Citroen World Rally Team crew provided much of the race’s excitement in their DS3 RRC, claiming second position with flair!
The penultimate round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, the Cyprus Rally can rightfully claim to be a genuinely mixed surface rally, with some stages on gravel, some on tarmac and some on a combination of both surfaces. “Each stage has its own characteristics, with many different surfaces,” described Khalid Al-Qassimi after completing recce. “There’s loose dirt, uneven sections in the sand, winding tracks, embedded rocks and then there are tarmac roads… The most difficult aspect is choosing the set-up that offers the most effective compromise. The driver also has to adapt to the conditions and find the right pace when switching from one surface to another.”
Fourth at the start of the race, the Citroën DS3 RRC driver had grabbed third position by the end of SS4. He then produced a stunning performance on Kornos, winning the stage by a clear margin. His time enabled him to cut the gap to second-placed driver, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, to just eight seconds.
“The rally is turning out to be just as difficult as we expected,” confirmed the Abu Dhabi driver at the Nicosie service. “There is a lot of hanging dust, and the organisers have added an extra minute between the start times of the crews so that we’re not so hampered by it. We’ve been trying to tweak the car’s set-up to find the best handling.”
These efforts paid dividends, enabling Khalid Al-Qassimi to continue to close the gap in the afternoon. He ended the leg only 1.6s adrift of the second-placed driver.
Day two began in the best possible fashion, as the Citroen DS3 RRC gained a place after SS10. Despite picking up a puncture on the next stage, the 2004 MERC Champion managed to increase his advantage throughout the course of the morning.
And although the Qatari fought back in the closing stages, Khalid held on until the end of the rally, taking the runner-up spot by just 4.7s. Thanks to his performance, Al-Qassimi strengthened his grip on second position in the championship standings. The Middle East Rally Championship is set to conclude in the United Arab Emirates, with the Dubai International Rally (28-30 November).
FIA Middle East Rally Championship standings1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) 118 pts2. Khalid Al-Qassimi (UAE) 69 pts3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT) 57 pts
