|
After a difficult build-up to the Rally d’Italia Sardegna, the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi has been cramming in some urgent video time to boost his prospects in this weekend’s seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Partnered by British co-driver Scott Martin, the Emirati’s preparations were hindered by logistical problems which meant he was unable to have any pre-event test in Sardinia at the wheel of his Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team DS3 WRC.
It meant this morning’s shakedown ahead of the qualifying stage was the first time he had been in the car since the accident which put him out of last month’s Acropolis Rally.
“There was just no time for a test, which is not exactly the ideal preparation after the crash,” said Al Qassimi, after completing the qualifying stage with the 12th fastest time.
“It wasn’t easy. I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to forget the crash, but at the moment every time I go into a corner I’m thinking of Greece. Here, the stages are much narrower and there’s a lot of rocks, so I’m having to take it a bit easy to begin with.
“I’m working on building my confidence, and it won’t come back straight away so I’m driving a bit cautiously in places. I just need to go with the flow and find the confidence.”
In between qualifying and the evening ceremonial start, Al Qassimi was spending time studying videos of his two-day recce of the route to get to know the stages better.
“There isn’t much time, but I’m watching as much of the videos as I can to help memorise the stages,” he said. “We have a set-up for the car on paper, but because we didn’t have a test we don’t know how it will work out. So to start with I’m going to have to take it easy.”
Al Qassimi will run first on the road on Friday’s first leg, which brings a gruelling 16-hours of rallying, with eight special stages.
“It’s a very, very long day,” said Al Qassimi. “The sun will just be rising when I get up, and it will be midnight before we finish. Then I’ll have about four-and-a-half hours of sleep and we start again.” Another eight stages lead to the finish on Saturday.
|
New
Review
Abu Dhabi International Airport - 41°F
