JULAI’A Kuwait: Qatar’s racing icon Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah may well be able to hit the cruise control button on the final leg of the Kuwait International Rally after he surged into a staggering lead of 6min 23.2sec after six timed special stages in the southern Kuwait deserts yesterday.

He and French navigator Matthieu Baumel were never troubled during a faultless day where their Skoda Fabia R5 won every stage to take firm control and push the 11-time regional champion towards a record sixth win in Kuwait.

“A perfect day for our team really” reflected Al Attiyah. “We win all the stages and I have a big lead now. The objectives change now though. We have to conserve that lead and make no mistakes on the last day. It is very important for me to win in Kuwait and extend my lead in the championship.”

A fierce desert battle raged behind the leading drivers in the MERC 2 class that could well become the highlight of the regional championship this year.

Yigit Timur began to up his pace as the day progressed and the Turk snatched the MERC 2 lead and second overall at the end of the sixth stage in a Tok Sport Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. By the end of the leg that advantage was a mere 4.1 seconds.

Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri produced the standout local performance of the day in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X to hold third overall and second in MERC 2 despite a minor incident on the second stage when he damaged the intercooler.

“I am very happy to finish the day in the top three” said Al Thefiri. “The Turkish guy (Timur) is second. Four seconds between us. I lost time in the sixth stage and the gap is very small. I have the advantage tomorrow because I know the stages very well. The most important thing is to finish to celebrate winning the national championship.”

Qatar’s Rashed Al Nuami and Italian navigator Nicola Arena were fourth and third in MERC 2 and Al Attiyah’s brother Khalifa Al Attiyah and Cypriot navigator Savvas Laos rounded off the top five in their Subaru Impreza.

The Lebanese duo of Rodolphe Asmar and experienced co-driver Joseph Matar held sixth and Saudi rookie Rakan Al Rashed and Finnish navigator Jarkko Kalliolepo were seventh. Germany’s Edith Weiss and the Kuwaiti duo of Saleh Ali and Elie Chachati rounded off the 10 survivors.

Qatar’s Khaled Al Suwaidi and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini were a comfortable second in their Ford Fiesta R5 until they lost over five minutes with a broken gearbox in stage five and slipped to eighth overall. Ongoing problems cost them further time before they retired before stage seven.

The event is organised by the Basil Salem Al Sabah Motor Racing Club (BMRC) under the chairmanship of Sheikh Athbi Nayef Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah and in conjunction with the General Authority for Sport.

Al Attiyah headed to the southern extremities of Kuwait to tackle the opening 13.95km Nuwaiseeb special located near to the Saudi Arabian border with a lead of 3.8 seconds over Al-Suwaidi. The Qatari set the target time of 7min 55.4sec and that was sufficient to extend his advantage to 20.8 seconds. The writing was already on the wall for his rivals.

Al Thefiri led the MERC 2 contingent overnight and his Friday morning stage opener of 8min 32.1sec was an impressive start. It gave the Kuwaiti an MERC 2 lead of 21.02 seconds after the opening desert stage.

The third 23.87km Al Kheiran special was slightly further north of Nuwaiseeb and was located to the east of Kuwait’s highway 40. But it failed to change Al Suwaidi’s fortunes and another storming time by Al Attiyah extended his advantage to 42.7 seconds.

Timur was in excellent form in MERC 2 and he snatched the lead from Al Thefiri with the quickest time after the Kuwaiti clouted a ditch and lost turbo boost. Al Nuami moved up to third but the leading six drivers were closely matched and this set up the prospect of a fascinating tussle for the podium. The final stage of the loop at Al Zour close to a major new oil refinery project in the south offered 23.87km. Al Attiyah was fastest again and headed towards the midday regroup and service in Julai’a with a lead of 1min 07.3sec.

A repeat of the three stages was on the agenda for the afternoon and Al Attiyah beat his morning time by 7.1 seconds but Al Suwaidi was in serious trouble and gearbox issues cost the Qatari just under five minutes and dropped him to eighth.

There were no major dramas for Al Attiyah in the stage and the Qatari cruised to the overnight halt with a massive lead but all eyes were on the MERC 2 fight as Al Suwaidi retired with his transmission woes before the last stage.

Today teams tackle the remaining six desert special stages of the event commencing with the first of two runs through the 16.61km of the Bnaider stage. The ceremonial finish is scheduled for 16.30hrs outside the Safir Hotel and Residences in Fintas south of Kuwait City.

The Peninsula