By Sports Reporter/Doha


Another highlight regarding the inaugural WTCC round at Losail will be the participation of Qatar rallying legend Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah. The two-time Dakar winner has had an incredible season so far having won the Dakar, the WRC2 and the MERC titles. It was not what he had expected at the start of the season.
“This season has been a really great one for us. It began with winning the Dakar. At the start of the season, we were planning to compete in three different competitions – Dakar, WRC 2 and MERC. Our plan was to win at least one. Definitely not all three. It’s been an amazing year for us. And now to get a drive in the final race of the WTCC season is a really nice gift from QMMF and I am quite happy,” said al-Attiyah yesterday.   
The last time he raced in competitive circuit racing was way back in 2010 and that too in endurance but he is still looking forward to the experience. “I love circuit racing. I follow many races in this category. I did circuit racing when I was driving with Volkswagen in 2009-10 during the 6 hours and 24-hours endurance races. I was driving the Scirocco – front wheel drive, so this is similar. Except that was endurance and this will be sprint. These races are not easy. But the good thing for me is to compete, learn and get the experience,” he said.
He has had only a few hours in the Chevy which he will be racing tomorrow but he was happy with the feeling. “It was a really nice feeling when I drove the car during the test. We need to run more kilometres on this car to understand. There are a lot of things that you need to respect.  I am happy just competing and looking forward to competing, learning from everybody and enjoying the weekend.”
As for the race itself, al-Attiyah predicts that it will be a good one. “As for the drivers, I think it will be easy for them. It will be their first time on the Losail Circuit. It is quite fast with 16 corners but everybody will enjoy it and I expect it to be a good race.”
And he also has some insider’s information regarding the track. “I would say watch out for the first corner. Many incidents happen during the GT3 race there. It’s a fast-medium corner. But I am sure these drivers are all professionals and they will learn it fast.”