Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi is poised to push for victory at the Kuwait Rally as he trails leader Nasser Al Attiyah by only 12.5 seconds going into Saturday's final day.
The Emirati, driving for Team Citroen Abu Dhabi, enjoyed a competitive day behind the wheel of his Citroen DS3 RRC in the second round of the Middle East Rally Championship (Merc) as he set the fastest time on three of Friday's six stages.
He led after the opening two stages, but Al Attiyah, the nine-time Merc champion, struck back to open up a lead, despite Sheikh Khalid going quickest on Stage 5.
There are six stages today for Sheikh Khalid, the 2004 Merc champion, to try to make up the time on Al Attiyah, and he is delighted with how things have gone thus far.
“Our car is in optimum shape, and I sincerely thank Citroen Racing for sparing no effort to preparing the car to this Rally’s ideal settings,” he said.
“Tomorrow’s stages are relatively shorter, and we must exploit it to our advantage while avoiding any setbacks.”
Saudi driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Kuwari were in a close battle for third until the Qatari dropped time on the final loop of three stages.
Al Rajhi finished the day a clear third, 67 seconds behind the leader but 1 minute, 42.3 seconds in front of fourth-placed Sheikh Abdullah Al Qassimi, despite a spin on the seventh stage and overheating issues throughout the day.
Meanwhile, Abdulaziz Binladen continued his impressive streak of victories in the UAE Sportbike Championship by winning both races at the Dubai Autodrome on Friday to close in on claiming the title.
Binladen dominated proceedings on his Liberty Kawasaki in the 600 Class as he finished ahead of defending champion Mahmoud Tannir in both races.
“Once again, my crew and Liberty Kawasaki gave me a great motorcycle on the day. I was able to control the pace, and taking two wins sets the stage for a great final day of the championship,” Binladen said.
“The game plan is to win the final two races and take the championship in style.”
Tannir said he would not give up and was confident of his chances in the final two races, which will be held on April 11 at the Dubai Autodrome.
“The next two races are on the Club Circuit at Dubai Autodrome, where I believe our package will perform really well,” he said. “So we head there determined to keep our title.”
Two wins in the Rookie Cup class were enough to make Michael Collins champion.
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