Qatar's Al Attiyah Wins Jordan Rally

Amman, April 27 (QNA) - Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel were in a class of their own after 11 special stages of the 2019 Jordan Rally in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas on Friday. The Qatari is bidding for a record-breaking 13th victory at the second round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) and guided his Autotek-run Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 to the fastest time on each of the days gravel stages until an alarm ruined his chance of completing a clean sweep on the final super special stage of the day. The outcome was a massive lead of 4min 21.2sec for the 14-time regional champion and 21 consecutive stage wins in this years rally series for the Polo. Al Attiyah said: "Last stage I see small alarm. I see fuel pressure. I decide just to go easily. Maybe we run without fuel. The gauge only shows zero, so I decide to finish the small stage without push. I am happy we are here now. I am quite happy. It is fantastic to win all the stages except for the super special. We are learning a lot with this car." Fellow countryman Abdulaziz Al Kuwari made a slow start on his return to the Hashemite Kingdom for the first time in three years at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia R5 with British co-driver Marshall Clarke. He held second place, 48.5 seconds in front of the Jordanian crew of Marouf Abu Samra and Malek Hariri in a Motortune Ford Fiesta R5, after both drivers had lost time with flat tyres on the second loop. Al Kuwari also sustained some car damage towards the end and his rival had throttle issues. Abu Samra said: "I am feeling good and relieved at the same time. I am glad we made it to the service at the end. I have a problem with the throttle sensor. At the end of the day I have enjoyed it and the gap is not that much between us on an international rally." Lebanese rookie Alex Feghali gained in confidence as the day progressed, benefiting from navigator Joseph Matars experience, to reach the night halt in a fine sixth place and third in MERC 2. (more)