Attiyah continues to lead at Rally of Morocco
Qatari and his French co-driver win Stage 3, staying ahead of Przygonski by 27secs; Al Rajhi overall second
ACE Qatar rally driver Nasser Al Attiyah and his French codriver Mathieu Baumel continued their dominating run at the Rally of Morocco on Monday finishing on top after the third stage of the seven-day rally which ends October 13.
Given the good runs thus far, the experienced Toyota driver seems headed towards his 6th victory in Rally Morocco. The Qatari driver had brilliantly won the second stage of the 120 km-long event on Sunday.
On Monday, the16-time Middle East Rally Champion and four times winner of the FIA World Cup for CrossCountry Rallies, Attiyah alongwith Baumel began the fifth day in their Toyota Hilux opening the cars’ competition of Stage 3 of 630kms (Super Stage 330kms) with less sand and requiring more navigational skills.
Attiyah finished on top (3:29:31secs), 27secs ahead of Polish Jakub Przygonski (3:29:58) and with Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi third at 2’42” (3:32:13).
“The third stage was difficult and the competition was strong and exciting, but we did our best to win, and I wish for success in the remaining stages.” Al Attiyah said.
Al Rajhi at one point was leading, just 57secs ahead of Attiyah but the Qatari veteran closed in on the gap before surging ahead towards the end.
The third leg consisted of a small erg to cross. A stage almost without sand, designed to relieve the pressure of the two previous days.
The route stretched over Morocco’s famous stony tracks followed by beautiful and sumptuous landscapes of the Tassilis region.
Rally of Morocco is billed as a kind of test run for the historic Dakar Rally, but it’s part of both the FIA Cross Country World Cup and the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship. The route covers nearly a total 1,666 miles of the Moroccan Sahara Desert and is being run by teams of drivers and riders from motorsport giants like Toyota Gazoo and Honda Racing among many, many others.
This rally is actually one of the major trials for Gazoo Racing’s reworked Hilux. The famous Toyota truck gets beefier running gear, per GR, and goes from 32 inch to 37 inch tires. More importantly, the Hilux is also getting the new 3.5-liter twin turbo V6 developed for the 300-Series Land Cruiser.
That engine already makes 409 horsepower and 479 lbft of torque in the road-going Land Cruiser, but it’s going to make much more than that in race trim at the Rally of Morocco. And as if the formidable new Hilux wasn’t enough, Toyota’s team boasts three consecutive FIA World Cup victories.