In the first full day of racing at Rally Mexico on Friday, Citroen Total Abu Dhabi driver Mads Ostberg put himself in the early hunt for a victory, snatching second place 26.1 seconds behind leader Sebastien Ogier.
Ostberg finished the day on a high note, winning the 11th stage and gaining 1.3 seconds on Ogier, who finished the final stage of the day fourth. Ostberg also won the third and fourth stages of the race.
“To be honest, I’m really pleased with the start I’ve made to this rally. The first loop went particularly well,” Ostberg said in a press release. “We tried to adapt the set-up for the changing road conditions in the afternoon. It didn’t really work, but you have to bear in mind that this is our first gravel rally ... but overall, it’s been a very encouraging start which augurs well for the rest of the rally.”
Ostberg and Ogier were joined in the top-3 by Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala, who came in 16.4 seconds after Ostberg. The trio largely made it a three-man race after the first leg, with fourth-placed Elfyn Evans of Britain arriving 1 minute 46.2 seconds after Latvala.
Citroen Abu Dhabi’s other driver, Kris Meeke, broke part of his suspension during the eighth stage after hitting a rock and was unable to complete the first day of racing.
“My strategy was pretty much the same as in Sweden. I drove at my own pace without worrying too much about the times the other drivers wer setting. On some stages, I was fairly comfortable although there was a lot of dust. The roads were also very slippery. On Stage 8, we hit a rock on a bend. The suspension arm broke. We tried to continue but we decided it was better to stop so that we could rejoin tomorrow in better shape,” said Meeke.
The second leg of the race will begin with Stage 12 on Saturday in Ibarilla. Rally Mexico is the third race of the World Rally Championship season.
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If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
SPECS
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Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
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The specs
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 646hp
Torque: 830Nm
Transmission: Two-speed auto (rear axle); single-speed auto (front)
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
‘FSO Safer’ - a ticking bomb
The Safer has been moored off the Yemeni coast of Ras Issa since 1988.
The Houthis have been blockading UN efforts to inspect and maintain the vessel since 2015, when the war between the group and the Yemen government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition began.
Since then, a handful of people acting as a skeleton crew, have performed rudimentary maintenance work to keep the Safer intact.
The Safer is connected to a pipeline from the oil-rich city of Marib, and was once a hub for the storage and export of crude oil.
The Safer’s environmental and humanitarian impact may extend well beyond Yemen, experts believe, into the surrounding waters of Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Eritrea, impacting marine-life and vital infrastructure like desalination plans and fishing ports.
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
