Agencies/Kuwait City


Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel were firmly in control of the Kuwait International Rally after seven desert special stages yesterday.
The defending champion’s Ford Fiesta RRC never missed a beat all day and the Qatari will take a lead of 1min 14.9sec over Khalid al-Qassimi into the final six timed tests today. He was quickest on every stage and remains on course for a fourth successive victory in 2015 and a fourth win in Kuwait since 2009.
“No problems for us today, a good clean run and a good lead,” said al-Attiyah. “I am very happy. Now I need to manage my pace, keep it clean and stay out of trouble.”
Abu Dhabi Racing’s al-Qassimi clawed back some of the time he lost after taking the wrong route after a third-stage jump in the dust and managed to stay ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi to hold second overall in his Citroen DS3 RRC.
“I got confused after a big jump because of the dust and I wrongly went right instead of left and that put me on another road,” said a disgruntled al-Qassimi, who slipped to third. “So I did a U-turn to come back to the right way and lost a lot of time.”
Al-Rajhi was a comfortable third after four punctures. A missed junction, a puncture and a flock of sheep gave fourth-placed Qatari driver Abdulaziz al-Kuwari plenty to talk about at the overnight halt.
Former event winner Khalid al-Suwaidi held fifth overall and fellow Qatari Abdullah al-Kuwari was sixth. Khalifa al-Attiyah retired three kilometres into the stage with engine issues.
When Salah bin Eidan lost a chunk of time on the first loop and Rashid al-Naimi retired on the third stage, Kuwait’s seventh-placed Meshari al-Thafiri was left in complete control of the Group N Trophy category at the wheel of his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. But he also sustained a flat tyre on the sixth stage and reached the end of the leg with a lead of 1min 36.2sec over Bin Eidan.
Mohamed al-Sahlawi was the only Abu Dhabi Racing junior to complete the first leg and also led the two-wheel drive category in eighth overall. Bin Eidan was a close ninth and Germany’s Edith Weiss rounded off the top 10 after a solid drive in her Mitsubishi.
The second round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship is being organised by the Basil Salem Al-Sabah Motor Racing Club (BMRC) in conjunction with the Kuwait International Automobile Club (KIAC) and is running under the patronage of Sheikh Athbi Nayef Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
Today, two loops of three special stages bring proceedings in the desert to a conclusion. The day’s action starts with the 24.60km of Bneider at 10.06hrs and this precedes passes through Arifjan (15.36km) and Julai’a (12.91km) at 10.54hrs and 11.32hrs.
Service and a regroup follow before the three timed tests are repeated at 13.00hrs, 13.48hrs and 14.26hrs. The ceremonial finish takes place outside the Safir Hotel and Residences in Fintas from 17.00hrs.

Position after SS7
1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Ford Fiesta RRC 1hr 25min 06.2sec
2. Khalid al-Qassimi (ARE)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Citroën DS3 RRC 1hr 26min 21.1sec
3. Yazeed al-Rajhi (SAU)/Michael Orr (GBR) Ford Fiesta RRC 1hr 27min 04.0sec
4. Abdulaziz al-Kuwari (QAT)/Marshall Clarke (GBR) Ford Fiesta RRC 1hr 27min 54.1sec
5. Khalid al-Suwaidi (QAT)/John Higgins (IRL) Ford Fiesta RRC 1hr 28min 41.7sec
6. Abdullah al-Kuwari (QAT)/Killian Duffy (IRL) Ford Fiesta R5 1hr 30min 43.2sec
7. Meshari al-Thafiri (KUW)/Mubarak al-Thafiri (KUW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 37min 51.8sec
8. Mohamed al-Sahlawi (ARE)/Craig Parry (GBR) Citroën DS3 1hr 39min 21.8sec
9. Salah bin Eidan (KUW)/Vili Oslaj (SLO) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 1hr 39min 28.0sec
10. Edith Weiss (GER)/Vicky Psarakis (GRE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 1hr 48min 56.5sec
11. Saleh al-Aly (KUW)Saffah al-Dhafeeri (KUW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 1hr 49min 18.7sec
12. Elie Chachati (KUW)/Naji Sfeir (LEB) Subaru Impreza 2hr 06min 28.6sec