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The UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi joined in the celebrations in Germany today as Dani Sordo recorded his first ever victory in the World Rally Championship for the partnership between Abu Dhabi Racing and Citroën.
After a battling performance in Rallye Deutschland, the Emirati driver was narrowly denied his third WRC top-ten finish of the season, having to settle for 11th position alongside British
co-driver Scott Martin in his Abu Dhabi Citroën Total DS3.
It was still a creditable performance on his least favourite surface for Al Qassimi, who was one of the first to congratulate Sordo after the Spaniard won a breathtaking battle with Belgian Thierry Neuville.
Sordo led by just three seconds at the start of today’s dramatic final stage, and Neuville closed the gap to two seconds at one point before leaving the road near the finish, giving the Citroën Abu Dhabi driver victory by 53 seconds.
With Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen grabbing third place, the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team closed to within 22 points of leaders Volkswagen in the WRC manufacturers’ standings, suggesting the title race is far from over with four rounds remaining.
Next up is Rally Australia from 13-15 September, and Al Qassimi will be particularly happy to be back on the gravel stages down under where he finished fifth in 2011 for his best WRC finish to date.
Tackling a tarmac rally for the first time in almost two years, he had to cope with unfamiliar narrow, twisting roads, wide ranging surfaces, and torrential rain which made conditions treacherous on Saturday’s third leg.
“It was all the more difficult because I had no experience in conditions like that,” said Al Qassimi. “Even in my normal, everyday life, I’ve never driven in such heavy rain. I was extremely cautious in order to make it the end of the third leg without damaging the car.”
The notoriously challenging stages became precarious as the rain lashed down on Saturday, when leader Jari-Matti Latvala and Mads Ostberg both went off and were forced to retire.
This briefly promoted Al Qassimi to ninth place overnight, but he was pushed out of the top ten when they both re-started on the final leg, and had to be content with 11th position at the end of today’s last two stages.
Al Qassimi was happy to see young Emirati driver Mohammed Al Mutawaa go the distance on his WRC debut. Partnered by Stephen McAuley in an Abu Dhabi Citroën DS3 R3 2WD, Al Mutawaa finished the event third in the WRC3 two-wheel drive class and 40th overall out of 68 finishers.
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