Tribune News Network
Doha
Abdulaziz Al Kuwari on Sunday became the fifth Qatar’ driver to win the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) as he and his co-driver Nasser Al Kuwari finished third at the Cyprus Rally in their Skoda Fabia RS to seal the maiden title.
Al Kuwari also became the fifth Qatari to have won the MERC title. The others being Saeed Al Hajri, Late Hamad bin Eid Al Thani (God bless his soul), Late Misfer Al Marri (God bless his soul), and the 19-time champion Nasser Al Attiyah.
The five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al Attiyah with Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini won the rally in his Skoda Fabia R5won.
Abdulaziz Al Kuwari was impressive throughout the season, finishing fourth in the Qatar International Rally in February, before securing the second place behind Al Attiyah at the Jordan Rally in May.
“We have won the FIA Middle East Rally Championship for the first time. For me, the result is a great victory because the race here in Cyprus is difficult. You cannot close your eyes for a moment; you’re always on alert. Only in the last special stage, we were more relaxed and enjoyed it. We didn’t push hard, but the most important thing is that we won the title,” Abdulaziz Al Kuwari said.
With the win, the 45-year-old Al Kuwari ended Al Attiyah’s winning streak of 13 consecutive championship titles. Al Kuwari headed to Cyprus with a considerable lead, just needing to finish the rally to achieve the historic milestone. The Al Kuwari brothers settled for third place, which secured them the necessary points for the championship title. This was Abdulaziz’s seventh participation in the Cyprus Rally, and it is certainly one he will never forget.
Al Muhannadi Al Hmoud finished fifth with another Skoda Fabia R5 in the colors of Qatar, also prepared by the Latvian SRT team.
Al Attiyah took the lead one special stage before the finish due to the retirement of Simos Galatariotis-Antonis Ioannou, who had been leading the race since the second special stage.
Ultimately, their aging Volkswagen Polo GTi gave out with a steering system issue (link arm broken) one stage before the end, in a repeat of last year’s scenario where the crew had been leading but retired, clearing the way for Al Attiyah to win.
The top Cypriot crew, Panagiotis Yiangou-Aristos Nicolaou, finished in second place with a Hyundai i20 R5, ahead of Abdulaziz and Nasser Al Kuwari, were crowned FIA MERC champions for the first time.
The ceremonial finish and awards ceremony took place at Makariou Avenue, in the heart of Nicosia.
Al Attiyah and Galatariotis had a fierce battle, with the Cypriot leading by 49.9 seconds after the first loop on Saturday. The gap was reduced to 38 seconds in the afternoon, to 6.9 seconds by Sunday midday, and finally to 1.5 seconds two special stages before the finish, as Nasser was going flat out — winning all of Sunday’s stages and half of Saturday’s (three).
Al Attiyah won the Cyprus Rally for the first time with a Skoda Fabia — it was only his second rally with his new car — having previously secured three wins with a Volkswagen Polo and five with a Ford Fiesta. For Bernacchini, this marks his fourth victory and his first since 2014, as Al Attiyah had won the Cyprus Rally five times in the interim with Mathieu Baumel as his co-driver.
Nasser Al Attiyah, said, “We won again this year the Cyprus Rally, one of the toughest in the Middle East Championship and in the world. We are happy. I want to thank the organizers and everyone who worked for this. I am always happy here in Cyprus.”.
Panagiotis Yiangou-Aristos Nicolaou had a great battle with Petros Panteli-Pampos Laos (Renault Clio), who were forced to change a tyre in the second stage, losing three minutes and their spot on the podium. They ultimately finished fourth, one position higher than last year, having delivered a strong performance with six Top 3 finishes in the special stages.
