Al-Attiyah Claims Seventh Jordan Rally Victory

Dead Sea, Jordan, May 11 (QNA) - Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini mastered the conditions and controlled their pace to perfection to secure a comfortable victory in the 2013 Jordan Rally, round three of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), at the Dead Sea on Saturday. The Qatari duly clinched his 48th career MERC victory and his seventh in Jordan by the margin of 1min 42.2sec to take a 24point championship lead into the summer break. The success also marked the 11th win for Ford in the 31-year history of the Jordan Rally. "This was never going to be an easy rally and, for sure, this is the toughest event in this championship," said a delighted Al-Attiyah. "Now I have three wins in three rallies and 75 points. The target at the start of the year was the championship but now I would like to win every rally this season the grand slam!" A string of fastest stage times enabled the Lebanese duo of Roger Feghali and Joseph Matar to sneak past Abu Dhabi Racing's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and British co-driver Scott Martin to secure second position in their Motortune Ford Fiesta. Al-Qassimi retained second in the championship with third overall with his Citroen DS3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Killian Duffy were never able to match the pace of the leading trio but the WRC 2 leaders were a solid fourth in the Seashore Ford Fiesta. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi and British co-driver Steve Lancaster finished fifth and Ma'rouf Abu Samra, a two-time national champion, and co-driver Malek Hariri finished sixth and were classified as the leading local crew in their Skoda Fabia S2000. Abu Dhabi Racing's Bader Al-Jabri and Jordanian Zeid Dahshan were separated by one tenth of a second after 12 special stages and Dahshan went on to win the Group N category in his Mitsubishi from fellow countryman Ala'a Khaleifah. Jordan's Husam Salem lost the lead in SS11 with mechanical issues. Mohammed Al-Mutawaa and Irish co-driver Stephen McAuley won the 2WD category with a Citroen DS3, the young Emirati also claiming the Junior category win. Eighteen of the original 26 starters finished day one and they were joined by a further six cars on the restart list for the final day under Rally2, although Jordanian driver Yousef Al-Asmar decided not to restart from 17th position. Abdullah Al-Kuwari had flipped his Mitsubishi on to its side on day one and the car had become wedged between two walls of rock. It had to be rolled over on to its roof before it could be dragged back on to its wheels, but damage was slight and the Qatari was able to continue. After his much-publicised dice with a cliff face in Suwayma, Abu Dhabi Racing's Mohamed Al-Sahlawi restarted at the rear of the field. Positions after SS16: 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Ford Fiesta RRC 2hr 51min 53.1sec 2. Roger Feghali (LBN)/Joseph Matar (LBN) Ford Fiesta RRC 2hr 53min 35.3sec 3. Khalid Al-Qassimi (ARE)/Scott Martin (GBR) Citroen DS3 RRC 2hr 53min 53.7sec 4. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Killian Duffy (IRL) Ford Fiesta RRC 2hr 56min 17.8sec 5. Abdullah Al-Qassimi (ARE)/Steve Lancaster (GBR) Ford Fiesta RRC 3hr 06min 57.7sec 6. Marouf Abu Samra (JOR)/Malek Hariri (JOR) Skoda Fabia S2000 3hr 07min 34.8sec 7. Khalid Al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Nicola Arena (ITA) Ford Fiesta RRC 3hr 14min 01.0sec 8. Zeid Dahshan (JOR)/Elie Musalem (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X N 3hr 19min 25.2sec 9. Alaa Khaleifah (JOR)/Othman Naseef (JOR) Subaru Impreza N 3hr 19min 47.0sec 10. Bader Al-Jabri (ARE)/Denis Giraudet (FRA) Subaru Impreza N 3hr 21min 12.8sec 11. Chafic Boulos (LBN)/George Nader (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX N 3hr 24min 38.9sec FIA Middle East Rally Championship positions after round 3: Drivers 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) 75pts 2. Khalid Al-Qassimi (ARE) 51pts 3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT) 42pts 4. Abdullah Al-Qassimi (ARE) 30pts 5. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU) 20pts 6. Roger Feghali (LBN) 18pts 6. Khalid Al-Suwaidi (QAT) 18pts, etc (END)