Adel Hussein Abdulla completes Baja Poland to stay in hunt for FIA T2 crown

SZCZECIN, Poland: Nissan’s Adel Hussein Abdulla bounced back from Saturday’s disappointment to set some solid stage times over the remaining four special stages of Columna Medica Baja Poland, round seven of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies on Sunday.

The Qatari and French navigator Jean-Michel Polato suffered a broken suspension bracket on Saturday that prevented them from tackling the third stage, but TOK Sport team technicians repaired the damage without any problems on Saturday evening and Adel Hussein Abdulla was able to rejoin the competitive action in the FIA T2 Championship on Sunday and reach the rally finish in Szczecin in an unofficial eighth place.

The Qatari is chasing the FIA T2 title this season — open for drivers of cars entered as Series Production CrossCountry vehicles — and his Nissan Patrol has support from Nissan Qatar, Nissan Middle East and the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF).

Adel Hussein trailed series leader Yasir Saeidan by nine points at the start of the weekend, but the Saudi endured several punctured tires as well on Saturday afternoon and neither driver was able to benefit from a useful points’ haul in Poland.

Poland’s Robert Kufel, driving a Nissan Navara, dominated the early stages of the event in the T2 category, but he hit trouble on Sunday morning and this opened the door for Martin Sobiech to snatch the win in T2.

Kufel recovered well over the closing stages to move back ahead of Klaudia Podkalicka and snatch second place. Saeidan reached the finish in an unofficial seventh place, with Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Harqan in fifth.

“Obviously it was disappointing to have the problem on Saturday, but it could have been a lot worse,” said Adel Hussein. “Yasir also had problems and that meant he was not able to take full advantage of our issues and pull clear in the championship.”

Adel Hussein was unable to return to action for the second of Saturday’s 176.33km selective sections in the military area around Drawsko Pomorskie and was handed further time penalties. But the situation could have been a whole lot worse for the Qatari until his arch rival for the FIA T2 Championship, Yasir Saiedan, was also delayed and lost time.

Kufel reached the overnight halt with a seven-minute lead in the category over Martin Sobiech, as Saeidan slipped from second to seventh position after his own technical issues.

Two runs through two further shorter stages were planned for Sunday to complete the action before the ceremonial finish in the Szczecin Rally Park.

Saiedan was fastest through the 30.78km of the Dobra stage, as Kufel maintained the outright lead and Adel Hussein returned to action to record the sixth quickest time.

Saeidan was the man to beat in the subsequent 17.65km of the Lubieszyn stage as well, although Adel Hussein was back in a competitive pace and third quickest on a stage where the T2-leading Kufel had his own fair share of problems.

Adel Hussein finished strongly with top three times on the last two stages