KHALID AL QASSIMI RUNNER-UP IN JORDAN

Having already racked up podium finishes in Qatar and Kuwait, Khalid Al Qassimi and Chris Patterson repeated the feat at the Jordan Rally, ending as runners-up in their Citroen DS3 RRC.

The Citroen Total Abu Dhabi Rally Team driver has ended the first half of the season in second position in the Middle East Rally Championship drivers’ standings.

For the third time running, Mohamed Al Mutawaa finished first among the Abu Dhabi Racing – Citroen Middle East Trophy drivers. He therefore extended his lead in the 2WD and Junior standings in his Citroen DS3 R3.

There are more and more rally fans here every year and once again, huge crowds turned out to watch the start of the Jordan Rally, with the first special stage held in the streets of Amman. Khalid Al Qassimi and Chris Patterson negotiated the dusty gravel roads to grab second overall in their Citroen DS3 RRC.

Throughout the first leg, the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi Rally Team driver and co-driver consolidated their position, the highlight being a stage win on SS4. “The roads are slippery. They demand a different driving style to the other rounds of the Middle East Rally Championship,” emphasized Khalid Al Qassimi. “Our pace was good and the Citroën DS3 RRC was quick. But we opted for hard compound tyres which didn’t give us the maximum level of grip and traction. So we preferred to strike a good balance between pushing and safety.”

More competitive on day two as he claimed three further stage wins, Khalid Al Qassimi held onto second overall and scored some important points for the rest of the championship.

“I’m very pleased with the DS3 RRC”, he concluded. “The Citroën Racing engineers did an incredible job to adapt the set-up to my driving style. I was confident on the first few stages of the day. We lost a bit of time towards the end of the rally when we had to avoid a large rock which was right in the middle of the racing line, but it was preferable to lose a few seconds at that point than run the risk of a retirement.”

As regards the Abu Dhabi Racing – Citroen Middle East Trophy, the early stages saw Mohamed Al Sahlawi go off. After making a mistake on SS2, he damaged the rear-right suspension of his Citroen DS3 R3. His more cautious team-mates got to grips with the difficulties posed by the Jordanian course, all of them making it to the finish of this, the third event of the season.

As was the case in Qatar and Kuwait, Mohamed Al Mutawaa claimed the category win: “Thanks to the experience acquired here last year, I managed to move up a notch in terms of performance. I have to thank Abu Dhabi Racing once again for setting up this programme, which allows young drivers to show off their skills. I would also like to thank Citroën Racing for consistently providing us with competitive cars.”

In the other Citroën DS3 R3s, Saeed Bintouq and Juma Al Falasi completed the podium in the 2WD category. Mansoor Bel Helei finished fourth, ahead of Mohamed Al Sahlawi.

After the first three rounds, Khalid Al Qassimi lies second in the Middle East Rally Championship drivers’ standings with 51 points. The season now takes a long summer break. The next round of the MERC is due to take place in Lebanon at the end of August.

JORDAN RALLY – FINAL OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah /Giovanni Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta RRC) 3:00:53.22. Khalid Al-Qassimi / Chris Patterson (Citroen DS3 RRC) +2:02.23. Abdullah Al-Qassimi / Catherine Derousseaux (Ford Fiesta RRC) +14:33.54. Marouf Abu Samra / Nicola Fanous (Skoda Fabia S2000) +15:10.75. Salah Bin Eidan / Alex Gelsomino (Ford Fiesta R5) +17:26.76. Husam Salem / Nancy Al-Majali (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) +26:22.07. Ala’a Rasheed / Joseph Matar (Ford Fiesta RRC) +27:33.38. Ala’ Khalifeh / Ata Al-Hmoud (Ford Fiesta R5) +28:49.39. Mohamed Al-Mutawaa / Stephen McAuley (Citroën DS3 R3) +32:07.210. Meshari Al-Thefiri / Emad Juma (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) +42:09.313. Saeed Bintowq / Allan Harryman (Citroen DS3 R3) +55:54.614. Juma Al-Falaisi /John Higgins (Citroen DS3 R3) +1:00:10.315. Mansoor Belhelai / Khalid Al-Kendi (Citroen DS3 R3) +1:02:06.617. Mohamed Al-Sahlawi /Craig Parry (Citroen DS3 R3) +1:36:57.2

MIDDLE EAST RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (3/6)1. Nasser Al Attiyah 75 points2. Khalid Al Qassimi 51 points3. Abdullah Al Qassimi 27 points4. Yazeed Al Rajhi 27 points5. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari 26 points

JUNIOR MIDDLE EAST RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS1. Mohamed Al Mutawaa 75 points2. Mohamed Al Sahlawi 46 points3. Mansoor Bel Helei 42 points4. Saeed Bintouq 30 points5. Juma Al Falasi 27 points