Al Attiyah wins
Kuwait Rally
Q
atar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and
his new Italian co-driver Giovanni
Bernacchini held an unofficial
45-second lead after the first four
special stages of the Kuwait International
Rally.The Subaru driver was impressed with
the accuracy of his new co driver’s pace
note reading and was fastest on each of
the morning desert stages. Yazeed Al-Rajhi
and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel held
second overall in their Peugeot 207 S2000,
despite an oil leakage and a potential drive
shaft problem. The Saudi was an unofficial
three seconds in front of the UAE team of
Rashid Al-Ketbi and Khaled Al-Kendi, who
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complained of soft suspension settings for the
first stage of the morning.
The Tough Competition
Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and Ulster co-driver
Michael Orr had set the second fastest time
on the first of the morning's desert stages,
but a wheel split after a hard landing in the
third stage and the pair lost four minutes
changing the troublesome rim. The delay
dropped them out of the top 10. Qatar's Misfer
Al-Marri held fourth overall in his Subaru
Impreza, despite a slow front puncture at the
end of the fourth stage and Kuwait's Meshari
Al-Thafiri was an unofficial fifth. There was a
Read the full article in M.E.M - April 2009 issue.
frantic tussle for sixth overall with a mere four
seconds separating Kuwait's Meshal Al-Nejadi,
Lebanon's Michel Saleh and Qatar's Khalid
Al-Suwaidi, although Al-Suwaidi suffered
differential problems near the end of the loop
and Saleh was reportedly delayed leaving
service soon after. Qatar's Mubarak Al-Hajri,
Kuwait's Mufeed Mubarak and former regional
champion Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani,
from Qatar, were in close competition.
Ups and Downs
The first loop claimed several cars, the UAE's
Khalil Al-Shaikh suffered battery problems,
Kuwait's Saleh bin Eidan damaged his engine