Local star Rawahi wins Oman Rally for second time
MUSC at: The Oman Rally Team’s Abdullah Al Rawahi and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud clinched victory in the Oman International Rally for the second time in three years on Saturday.
Ater pre-event favourite Nasser Saleh Alatiyah crashed on the opening super special stage, Rawahi hit the front on the first of a dozen gravel stages in Oman and stayed clear of major trouble, punctures aside, to guide his Skoda Fabia Evo to victory by the margin of 6min 35.6sec. The feat meant the Omani became one of only 15 drivers ever to win more than one round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
“It was a great feeling to win my home rally for the first time two years ago and to do it again is very special,” said Rawahi. “This is a perfect start to the championship for us and I would like to thank Ata for his efforts and the team for giving me such a strong car on what was a difficult rally.”
The fastest time on the final stage enabled Petr Kacirek and Petra Rihakova to see off a late challenge from Atiyah for second overall and the Czech crew duly sealed the runner-up spot in their Duck Racing Skoda Fabia.
Atiyah and Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel won 11 of the 13 special stages, but the costly error on the first stage damaged the Volkswagen Golf’s radiator and a subsequent time penalty for a seat belt infringement meant the task was ultimately too much for the Qatari to challenge for the win.
Atiyah reached the finish at the Muscat Drit Arena in third overall to keep the defence of his regional title firmly on track. He may well have caught Kacirek and snatched second had he not suffered a rear right puncture and driven 17km on the shredding tyre to the finish of the final stage.
“Ater what happened on Thursday, I suppose I am happy enough with the result,” said Atiyah. “But I am disappointed to have the puncture on the last stage when second place was achievable. That’s rallying. I drove for 17km on a rear right puncture.”
Meshari Al Thefiri and his Qatari co-driver Nasser Al Kuwari were passed by Atiyah on the aternoon’s loop of stages but the Kuwaiti managed to finish fourth overall and confirm victory in the MERC2 category in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. He had led the event outright on Thursday evening ater winning the opening super special stage.
Atiyah’s cousin Nasser Khalifa Al Atya teamed up with Giovanni Bernacchini to round off the top five in a Ford Fiesta R5, while the Jordanian duo of Shaker Jweihan and female co-driver Nancy Al Majali finished sixth and second in MERC2.
Kuwait’s Yousef Al Dhefiri overhauled Jordan’s Sheikh Bader Al-fayez to claim seventh overall and third in the showroom category.
Jordanian Ihab Shorafa was deprived of a finish ater stopping in the final stage.
The Mitsubishi driver’s demise lited fellow countryman Shadi Shaban into ninth place and Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled rounded off the top 10. The Omani crew of Abdullah Al Zubair and Taha Soomar were the last of the finishers in 11th.