RALLY AROUND THE WORLD #4

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22.03.19

Latest news on the regional rally championships

2019 MERC Rally Qatar - N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel
FIA MIDDLE EAST RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP – RALLY QATAR (ROUND 1/5)

Qatar’s motor sport star Nasser Al-Attiyah once again set the record by sealing his 14th win on his home event Rally Qatar, which launched the FIA Middle East Rally Championship from 14 to 16 March. The 14-time FIA MERC champion also celebrated his 70th overall win in the championship and first victory with the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 while his French co-driver Matthieu Baumel duly claimed his third win in Qatar and a career 18th in the Middle East competition. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT) and Marshall Clarke (GBR) confirmed second with a Skoda Fabia R5 while Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani (QAT) and Dale Moscatt (AUS) took third place on the podium with a Ford Fiesta R5.

Al-Attiyah and Baumel won the season opener in impressive fashion by setting the fastest time in all eleven special stages and finishing with a lead of 3min 29.6sec after 203.72 classified kilometres. The success also marked the first overall FIA Championship win for Volkswagen’s Polo GTI R5 that made its debut at the FIA World Rally Championship in Spain last October and claimed FIA WRC 2 success in Sweden in February in the hands of Norwegian driver Ole Christian Veiby. It was a happy ending for the pair, who had retired in the last two editions of Rally Qatar.

Their closest challenger Al-Kuwari and Clarke got to grips with their Škoda Fabia R5 as the event progressed and finished in a comfortable second place. The Qatari said he will continue testing in the desert to improve the set-up.

2019 FIA MERC Rally Qatar - N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel 2019 FIA MERC Rally Qatar - Al-Kuwari

Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani, the 1993 regional champion, claimed his first podium finish at the event since 2010 to give the host nation a first 1-2-3 finish since Al-Attiyah’s last home win in 2016.

Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri mixed it with the R5 cars for much of the rally before slipping back to sixth overall after the penultimate stage. The Mitsubishi driver’s consolation was a massive winning margin of 18min 34.1sec in the FIA MERC 2.

Defending MERC 3 champion Henry Kahy got the defence of his title off to the perfect start with 11th overall and first in the two-wheel drive category.

The second of a total five rounds of the 2019 MERC, Rally Jordan, will take place from 25 to 27 April.

Find the FIA MERC overall standings here and check out the Rally Qatar photo gallery!

2019 MERC Rally Qatar - A. Al-Kuwari / M. Clarke 2019 MERC Rally Qatar - H. bin Eid Al-Thani/ D. Moscatt


 
FIA EUROPEAN RALLY TROPHY BENELUX & CELTIC

 

While the FIA MERC action was in full swing under scorching sun in the Qatari dunes, Europe hosted two rounds of the 2019 FIA European Rally Trophy -  the season openers of the Benelux and Celtic series – in somewhat colder and more humid conditions!

 

BENELUX RALLY TROPHY – SIJPERDA ZUIDERZEE RALLY (ROUND 1/5)

Holland's local champion Hans Weisj Jr. and co-driver Tim Rietveld claimed victory on the Zuiderzee Rally (15-16 March), which kicked off the Benelux series of the 2019 FIA European Rally Trophy. The pair brought their Ford Fiesta R5 on the first step of the podium, ahead of countrymen Kevin Van Deijne and Hein Verschuuren in a Skoda Fabia R5. Third place went to Danemark's Kristian Poulsen and Ole Frederiksen, driving another Fabia R5.

Two Dutch and 2 Danish crews made it to the final classification of the FIA ERT’s Benelux event after seven special stages on tarmac around the city of Emmeloord and over 160 competitive kilometres run in wet conditions on Friday and Saturday.

Check out the Sijperda Zuiderzee’s photo gallery! (photo credits: Johan Vis Fotografie).

The provisional 2019 ERT Benelux Standings can be consulted here.

2019 FIA European Rally Trophy Benelux – Zuiderzee Rally - H. Weisj Jr. / T. Rietveld  2019 FIA European Rally Trophy Benelux – Zuiderzee Rally - K. Van Deijne / H. Verschuuren

CELTIC RALLY TROPHY – WEST CORK INTERNATIONAL RALLY (ROUND 1/5)

FIA World Rally Championship contenders until last year Craig Breen and Paul Nagle from Ireland were the winners of the Celtic championship's opening round in a Ford Fiesta R5. Their Ulster challengers Alastair Fisher and Gordon Noble took second in another Fiesta R5 while Great Britain's Tom Cave and James Morgan finished third overall in their Hyundai i20.

Waterford rally ace Breen and his Killarney co-driver Nagle were the crew to beat on the Irish event last week. The duo set the fastest time in five out of the fifteen special stages and confortably drove their Ford Fiesta to victory.

Britons Fisher and Noble were only 22.2 seconds behind after two days of competitive action, with Cave and Morgan finishing third overall, another 15 seconds down. Current British champion Matt Edwards, navigated by his codriver Walsh Patrick, took fourth place at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R5.

Former World Rally Championship champion Mikko Hirvonen was also among the rally contenders on the starting line but competing in the National Rally championship in a Ford Escort.

Watch the photo selection, and the provisional 2019 ERT Celtic Standings can be consulted here.

2019 FIA European Rally Trophy Benelux – Zuiderzee Rally - C. Breen / P. Nagle 2019 FIA European Rally Trophy Benelux – Zuiderzee Rally - C. Breen / P. Nagle


 
UCOMING: 2019 FIA ERT RALLY AZORES & FIA ERT IBERIAN RALLY SIERRA MORENA

 

FIA EUROPEAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP – RALLY AZORES, PORTUGAL (ROUND 1/8)

Still in Europe but under slightly warmer skies, the 2019 FIA European Rally Championship fires up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean this weekend (21-23 March), with Rally Azores hosting the opener (out of eight events) of what is set to be another exciting chase for on-stage glory.

The action will take place around Ponta Delgada, São Miguel with 15 gravel stages and a total of 223.93 competitive kilometres, which will be the playground for established stars including defending champion Alexey Lukyanuk and double title winner Marijan Griebel, national champions, category stalwarts – plus a host of young prospects aiming to prove their talent in ERC Junior – competing in an exciting array of machinery. The event on the archipelago’s largest island is one of the most spectacular on the international calendar : gravel tests criss-cross breath-taking scenery and lush countryside, and are characterised by their sandy surface and narrow, undulating nature.

There are several stages from the Azores broadcast live and you can follow the rally on Facebook. That’s a thrilling start to the season in store!

2019 FIA ERC - Rallye Azores - action 2019 FIA ERC - Rallye Azores - action

FIA EUROPEAN RALLY TROPHY IBERIAN – RALLY SIERRA MORENA, SPAIN (ROUND 2/8)

There’s plenty of rally action this week-end and this includes also Round 2 of the FIA European Rally Trophy’s Iberian series: Rally Sierra Morena in Spain.

After Rali Serras de Fafe, the season opener in Portugal a few weeks ago which saw the victory of Spain’s WRC hero Dani Sordo, the competitors will battle it out around the Andalusian city of Cordoba in the South of the country - the opportunity for the many Spanish entrant crews to test their skills on home soil in this 37th edition of the event.