Oman’s Hameed take third spot
MUSCAT: Oman’s Hameed Al Qasmi clinched the overall third place in the UAE Rally Championship after winning the third place in the fifth and final round of the series in Fujairah.
The Fujairah round saw participation of three Omani rally drivers. While Hameed Al Qasmi finished third, Faisal Al Rashid finished fourth both in the final round as well as the championship, and Oman’s experienced driver Khalid Soomar pulled out due to some technical problems.
In Group N category, Hameed and Faisal bagged second and third places respectively both in the final round and in the overall championship standings.
UAE’s star driver Sheikh Mohammed Al Qassimi emerged the overall champion and he was followed by Sheikh Abdullah Al Qassimi. The final round of the UAE championship comprised seven stages and two of which were cancelled following complaints from the participants regarding the rough tracks and a lock of rocks on the way.
In the first stage at Fujairah Dam, Hameed Al Qasmi covered the 8km stage in six minutes and 1.524 seconds (6:01.524) while Al Rashid clocked 6:03.436.
Khalid Soomar was working well at this stage trying to compete with top three as he recorded the fastest time among Omani drivers but soon suffered some technical issues with his Mitsubishi Evo 7. After the cancellation of the second stage, Hameed Al Qasmi and his co- driver Mohammed Al Mazrouri finished stage three in 5:47.753 and Fasial Al Rashidi and his navigator Waleed Al Rashidi timed 5:47.517.
Khalid Soomar and his codriver Issa Al Wardi finished the stage in better time and though they experienced more problems, including a puncture, they went on to complete the next stage.
But due to more issues with the breaking system, Khalid Soomar pulled out of the fifth round.
Hameed Al Qasmi, meanwhile, said: “I am very happy to end the rally and the championship with this result. It has been a very difficult time but we worked hard to achieve this result.”