WRX STI CAR RALLY

Al Attiyah prunes Khalid's lead in first leg

Al Ain: The 2004 regional champion Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi and British co-driver Nicky Beech held a 53-second advantage in the ADNOC Distribution UAE International Rally after the seven timed special stages of the opening leg in Al-Ain on Thursday.

The Pirelli-backed UAE driver had taken the battle to the defending FIA Middle East rally champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Ulster co-driver Chris Patterson from the start and beat his rival by 11 seconds in the 39.24 kms Al Mishab stage yesterday morning, with Shaikh Abdullah Al Qasimi and Shaikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum trailing behind.

But Al Attiyah fought back on the subsequent two stages to take a slender six-second lead over the UAE's Shaikh Khalid into the Sweihan midday service point.

When the Qatar rallyist was forced to stop in the fifth stage to remove sand from a clogged air filter, Shaikh Khalid inherited a lead of 1m 17s, leaving Al Attiyah in a frantic tussle with Shaikh Suhail for second place.

Al Attiyah passed his UAE rival in SS6 by setting the fastest time and reduced Shaikh Khalid's overnight lead to 53 seconds after the seventh stage to set up a fascinating final leg of sixth special stages today.

A determined Shaikh Khalid said: "I was pleased with my start, but I don't want to take too many risks. We need to be fast to match Nasser, but there is a fine line between fast and reckless. Now I have to adopt a waiting game today. Now Nasser has to take the risks."

"I adopted a different strategy on this rally," said Al Attiyah. "Khalid started well, but I decided to push harder on SS3 and SS4. It worked and I took the lead again. But then we had to stop because the air filter was blocked. Now I have to attack today."

Shaikh Suhail and Shaikh Abdullah were third and fourth overall in their new Subaru Impreza WRX STis and Jordanian Amjad Farrah was the highest-placed Mitsubishi driver in fifth overall.

But the major drama from the opening leg revolved around the Bahraini driver Hassan Al Sadadi. He and British co-driver Keith Wake survived a high-speed crash accident, which destroyed their Subaru Impreza WRX STi. "It was a right turn after a long straight and I called this pace note to Hassan and then heard a loud bang," said his bruised co-driver.

"Then Hassan shouted out and we went over and over and over again. The accident seemed to go on forever. When I stopped, I noticed that the engine was on fire and got out of the car and switched off the master switch and activated the fire extinguisher. Hassan was very dazed.

"He had a bruised eye and I immediately summoned a nearby marshall to call an ambulance. A helicopter was with us in a matter of minutes and Hassan was taken to hospital for observation. Our car is completely finished."

"I would like to praise the speed and efficiency of our medical and rescue team and the work of the marshal on the scene for reacting so quickly," said Mohammad Bin Sulayem, Chairman of the Automobile Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates.

"We have worked long and hard with safety on our rallies and this proves that the work has been successful."

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