Attiyah Claims Record-Breaking 13Th Victory in Jordan Rally
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Bottas claims Pole, Hamilton second ahead of Azerbaijan Grand Prix PAGE 19 SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2019 Qatari duo Tijan, Younousse in line for bronze at Xiamen Open PAGE 19 ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE MAN UTD VS CHELSEA Attiyah claims record-breaking 13th victory in Jordan Rally Kuwari and Abu Samra finish second and third respectively; Kuwait’s Thefiri takes crushing MERC 2 win; Lebanon’s Kahy wins MERC 3 TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DEAD SEA (JORDAN) NASSER Saleh al Attiyah sur- vived a suspension scare on the first run through the Amar special stage and went on to secure a record-breaking eighth successive and 13th outright victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday. Seemingly coasting to vic- tory with a massive lead of over five minutes in their Autotek- run Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel were forced to limp through two stages with broken suspension and Nasser Saleh al Attiyah in action during the Jordan Rally on Saturday. Nasser Saleh al Attiyah with co-driver Matthieu Baumel on the podium. sufficient repairs were made to enable the duo to reach the fin- and maintained the pressure Thefiri and Qatari navigator RESULTS ish with an eventual winning on their rivals in the title race. Nasser Al-Kuwari were the margin of 4min 08.2sec on this Their consolation was win- class of the MERC 2 field. The 2019 Jordan Rally – positions after SS21: 7. Shadi Sheban (JOR)/Ameer Nassif (JOR) Mitsubishi 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel Lancer Evo IX 4hrs 37min 07.8sec second round of the 2019 FIA ning day two and collecting defending champion was able (FRA) Volkswagen Pole GTI R5 3hrs 00min 48.5sec Middle East Rally Champion- an additional championship to ease his pace over the clos- 2. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Marshall Clarke (GBR) 2019 FIA Middle East Rally Championship – stand- ship (MERC). point. ing kilometres and still man- Škoda Fabia R5 3hrs 04min 56.7sec ings after round 2 (unofficial): The result marked Atti- Al-Kuwari said: “We are aged to cross the finish line in 3. Marouf Abu Samra (JOR)/Malek Hariri (JOR) Ford 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) 77pts Fiesta R5 3hrs 06min 27.6ec 2. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT) 61pts yah’s 71st MERC win in the happy to finish second. We fourth overall with a massive 4. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) 3. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT) 33pts 212-event history of the re- knew that Nasser was going winning margin of 1hr 04min Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 3hrs 20min 08.8sec 4. Marouf Abu Samra (JOR) 25pts gional series since its incep- faster every time. We are hap- 25.2sec. 5. Henry Kahy (LEB)/Musa Djiyerian (JOR) Škoda Fabia 5. Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani (QAT) 24pts tion in 1984. Baumel has now py with our pace with different Al-Thefiri said: “We go 3hrs 57min 36.7sec 6. Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (QAT) 19pts 6. Khaled Juma (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi 7. Khalid Al-Suwaidi (QAT) 16pts won 19 MERC rallies. tyres and a different set-up. It slowly, slowly today to take Lancer Evo X 4hrs 24min 34.0sec Attiyah said: “Today was was difficult to start a proper care of the car. There is no a special day for us. We had rally after such a long time. By point to push more. It is a dif- a few problems but we man- the end of the season, I hope ficult rally. You never know, Ruwahi and Qatar’s Nasser sensor issue that had given Al- aged to fix everything. I am to have our speed again.” at any time, you could have a Khalifa Al-Atya failed to re- Attiyah the late scare on Fri- so happy to win and to lead The Jordanian crew of problem.” turn to action under Rally 2 day evening. The car was actu- the Middle East Champion- Marouf Abu Samra and Malek Lebanon’s Henry Kahy for a further 10 special stages ally running low on fuel after ship after winning in Qatar Hariri were rewarded with a continued the defence of his on leg two that included two a misjudgement by the team. Winners on the podium after the Jordan Rally. and now here in Jordan. The podium finish in their Ford MERC 3 title in impeccable runs through the Suwayma, Nevertheless, the Qatari suspension issue was a worry. Fiesta R5, the Amman driver style with a fine category win Mahes, Rawda, Amar and began his challenge in Su- increasing his advantage over succumbed to his own techni- We had three gravel shocks enjoying his return to the in- and fifth overall with Jorda- Nebo specials. wayma with a lead of 4min third-placed Abu Samra to cal issues before the start of (shock absorbers) and one ternational spotlight as he nian co-driver Musa Djiyerian Ruwahi retired with car 21.2sec over Al-Kuwari. The 1min 15.7sec. the first Rawda special. His tarmac, one and the balance confirmed another top three in his nimble Škoda Fabia. damage after his opening latter’s lead over Abu Samra Asem Aref was the first demise lifted Al-Aufi into fifth was completely different. It finish for the host nation. The other three finishers stage accident on Friday and had grown to 58.5 seconds casualty of the day from the after Feghali lost three min- was not easy to have all the Abu Samra added: “The all came from Rally 2 after re- Al-Atya withdrew on medical after the Jordanian had been international rally; the Re- utes in the test. parts because this was a new podium means a lot for me tiring on Friday. Khaled and grounds with a shoulder issue awarded a 10-second time nault Clio driver lost second At 19km in length, Ma- car.” and the fans in Jordan. I said Emad Juma set some fastest after his steering woes on the penalty by rally stewards. in MERC 3 with technical is- hes was the longest stage of Fellow Qatari Abdulaziz al to a lot of guys before the start MERC 2 times in their Mit- second loop of day one’s stag- Attiyah set the target time sues shortly after the start this year’s rally and Al-Atti- Kuwari and British co-driver that it was a long rally and to subishi during the day and es. Fourteen FIA cars and six of 6min 15.1sec in the opening of the Suwayma stage. Ihab yah crossed the finish line in Marshall Clarke were waiting build their speed step-by-step. finished in sixth place. national machines, therefore, 11.74km stage and beat Al- Al-Shorafa followed his fel- 15min 22.1sec. Another quick- to pounce if Attiyah’s troubles It looks like no one was listen- Jordan’s Shadi Shaban and restarted. Kuwari by 19.2 seconds to ex- low countryman into retire- est time enabled the Qatari to worsened and the Škoda Fa- ing. I enjoyed the rally a lot.” Ammer Nassif finished seventh. Volkswagen technicians tend his lead to 4min 40.4sec. ment after the stage finish and reach the refuelling point with bia R5 crew finished second Kuwait’s Meshari Al- Only Oman’s Abdulla Al- confirmed that it wasn’t a fuel The latter’s consolation was Saudi Arabia’s Said Al-Mouri a lead of 5min 30.3sec. Al Bayt Stadium sets new turf-laying record Qatar lead GCC Swimming Championship in Kuwait QNA DOHA QATAR swimming team claimed the first place in age groups competitions at the 2019 GCC Swimming Champi- onship in short course (25 me- tres) held in Kuwait on Friday. Qatar clinched 27 medals including 16 gold medals, 10 silver medals and one bronze medal. The Qatari team included Abdulaziz al Obaidli, Yousef al Khulaifi, Fares al Saidi, Ahmed Samara, Mohammed Mahmoud, Omar Ashraf, Mo- The Al Bayt Stadium, the giant tent structure in the northern city of Al Khor has set a new turf-laying record of six hours, 41 minutes and 43 hamed Fahd, Khaled Fahad, secs. The previous record was held by the Al Wakrah Stadium of nine hours, 15 minutes. The Al Bayt Stadium, a 60,000-capacity arena, will Karim Salah, Tamim Moham- and Walid Dalloul. The Qa- along Ibrahim al Rumaihi as host matches right through to the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finals. The stadium design honours Qatar’s past and present, while keeping med, Ali al Naimi, Abdullah tari delegation was headed by manager of the team, coaches one eye on the future of the community. The top tier of seating in the stadium will be removed following the 2022 World Cup and donated Ahmed, Saif Adel, Ibrahim Khalid Abdullah, member of Nasser al Saqiri, Omar Kha- to developing nations that need stadium seating – a lasting reminder of Qatar’s World Cup legacy. Ahmed, Abdulrahman al the board of directors of the dash, Anton Rodionov and Khunji, Abdullah al Khunji Qatar Swimming Association, Shukri al Qafasi. Sports Sunday, April 28, 2019 17 Lee leads News Los Angeles Thiem suprises in brief Open by Woods says it is possible to reach get one shot Nicklaus’ record LOS Angeles: Tiger Woods believes he can still catch Jack AFP Nicklaus and his record of 18 major titles after ending a dec- LOS ANGELES Nadal to reach ade-long drought with a win for the ages at Augusta National. The 43-year-old stunned the sporting world this month by MINJEE Lee, who is seeking completing an epic comeback from spinal fusion surgery to her fifth title on the USLPGA capture his 15th major and his first since the 2008 US Open.