Al Attiyah grabs lead as Loeb plans fight to the finish in desert challenge






 

Al Attiyah grabs lead as Loeb plans fight to the finish in desert challenge

 

French star sets sights on world championship points

 

Abu Dhabi, UAE 27th February, 2023: Sebastien Loeb plans a fight to the finish in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge after his hopes of a first victory in the event for Bahrain Raid Xtreme ended in frustration today.

 Loeb and Fabian Lurquin in the BRX Prodrive Hunter were halted by mechanical problems on the rally’s first demanding desert stage and lost their lead in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) to Nasser Al Attiyah, who was fastest on the day to hold the outright lead in his Toyota.

 A cooling hose problem on the 242-km stage between Al Dhannah city and Qasr Al Sarab forced Loeb to return directly to the bivouac. BRX technicians will spend the night assessing the problem, with the intention that the Prodrive Hunter returns to action tomorrow.

 The nine-time World Rally Champion immediately set his sights on the next four stages and the chance to win valuable points in the race for the W2RC driver and team titles.

 Overall leader and defending world and Desert Challenge champion Al Attiyah won the stage by 6 mins 5 secs from Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, with South African Henk Lategan taking third place in another Toyota.

 Czech Martin Prokop in a Ford Raptor, Argentina’s Juan Yacopini in a Toyota and Denis Krotov at the wheel of a Mini completed the top six

 Guerlain Chicherit, second fastest on yesterday’s Prologue in another Prodrive Hunter and lying third in the W2RC, also dropped from contention when he fell ill on the stage. He managed to complete the tough passage through the dunes, but withdrew from the rally in order to fully recover.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Incredible Football Festival of India (IFFI)

Image
When November swings around it’s time to roll out the red carpet as a plethora of mega stars from Bollywood fly into Goa to celebrate the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The week long extravaganza brings glamorous actors and directors from the film fraternity in contact with fans of the big screen. This year’s event happened between the 20 th  and 28 th  of November in Panjim and was extra special for me. On the sidelines of the main event, an open air football film festival was organised by Serendipity, which took place from the 22 nd  till the 27 th  of November at the Children’s park in Campal. The idea behind the screenings was that Goans love football, so this would attract them towards attending the glitzy annual event. The friendly German professor, Jans Tilman was the curator of the football documentaries and was present to interact with the audience before and after the movies. This was actually Jan’s second trip to Goa as he previously organised similar foo
Read more

Doha winner Aryna Sabalenka: ‘I lost my dad in the pre-season. I’m doing this for him’

Image
Doha winner Aryna Sabalenka: ‘I lost my dad in the pre-season. I’m doing this for him’ Aryna Sabalenka eased past Petra Kvitova to win the Qatar Open and then dedicated the title to her father Sergey, who passed away in November. The 21-year-old secured her sixth WTA Tour title and third Premier 5 trophy with a solid victory over the eighth-seeded Kvitova, winning 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes. The ninth seed broke in game four of the first set and games seven and nine of the second to ease to victory. Sabalenka revealed afterwards how tough the past few months have been on her following the death of her father. “It was a long journey here and I put everything on tennis,” the Belarusian said. “I was actually only playing tennis and focusing on tennis and nothing else. And I think I gave everything for tennis. “I just lost my dad in the pre-season and he was my biggest motivation, and I’m doing it for him.” The world No 13’s last four titles were all w
Read more

Asia’s best women’s teams poised for AFC Women’s Club Championship™ return

    The stage will be set for the return of Asia’s premier women's football club competition when eight club champions from as many Member Associations (MAs) discover their battle lines at the official draw ceremony of the  AFC  Women’s Club Championship™ 2023 - Invitational Tournament on Thursday.  Taking place from November 6 to 12, the tournament will give way to the  AFC  Women’s Champions League  from the 2024/25 season.  The eight participants, three more than the previous edition, will be divided into two groups of four teams who will play in centralised venues in Uzbekistan and Thailand.  The seeding is based on the latest FIFA Women’s World Ranking of their respective MAs, and following the Nadeshiko’s commendable performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, WE League champions Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies of Japan will be the top seed, securing a spot in Pot 1.  With Australia’s Semi-final finish at the FIFA Women’s World Cup earning them the s
Read more