SPORT Saturday 16 March 2019 PAGE | 17 PAGE | 19 FIFA backs F1: Hamilton 48-team dominates World Cup season’s first in 2022 practice Dominant Al Attiyah extends lead THE PENINSULA TODAY’S ACTION LUSAIL The 13-time Manateq Qatar Abdulaziz Al Kuwari settles into International Rally champion second place Two loops of three special Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah delivered stages bring the competitive a mint start to his new rallying Al Attiyah wins each of the day’s action to a close in Qatar today in campaign in a new Volkswagen four gravel special stages Big MERC 2 lead for Al Thefiri the north of the country, running Polo GTI R5 to extend his overall through Eraida (19.39km), Al lead in the Manateq Qatar Inter- Dhakira (24.13km) and Al Khor national Rally to 1min 24.5sec (18.18km) at 08.35am, 09.08am yesterday. and 09.50am and precede a The 13-time winner of the return to service at the Lusail rally and French navigator Mat- Sports Centre. thieu Baumel won each of the day’s four gravel special stages The three timed tests will be in the north of the country and repeated at 12.30pm, 13.03pm showed the true potential of the and 13.45pm and surviving crews new factory-supported car being then return to Lusail for a final run by Autotek Motorsport. service. A relaxed Al Attiyah said: “We are quite happy with the car and The post-event press everything is working well. It is conference and ceremonial finish similar to the Ford and the Škoda. will then take place at Souk R5 is R5, but I had a good feeling Waqif in downtown Doha for a from the beginning. No water on second consecutive year with the the stages this morning, but it was PC starting at 19.50pm and the a little bit windy and dusty. We Qatari rally star Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and his French navigator prize giving taking centre stage did a good job. The stages today Matthieu Baumel in action in their Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 during at 20.15pm live on Al Rayyan were a little bit rough. For the R5, the second day of the Manateq Qatar International Rally, yesterday. television. they were okay, but when you see the Group N have a lot of problem, this is the Qatar Rally. Six Omani crews started the Al Kuwari was getting used to faster on his second run through with an advantage of 1min Tomorrow the stages are much Manateq Qatar National Rally. being back behind the wheel and Al Ruwais and saw his lead grow 24.5sec. It had been a low better. We try to keep a good pace Jarah Al Touqi moved to the top only dropped 3.3 seconds to his to 1min 12.8sec. Al Suwaidi pressure first day for the Qatari and manage our lead.” of the leader board in SS2 and rival. Al Thefiri remained the dropped time and missed out on in the new Volkswagen. Al Thani Abdulaziz Al Kuwari returned We are quite happy maintained his advantage to class of the MERC 2 field in third his chance to overhaul Al Thefiri displaced Al Thefiri in the windy to the hot seat after a three-year with the car and reach Lusail 9min 31.9sec in front overall, as the R5 cars set the top and snatch third place with Al conditions to take third place and absence and quickly settled into everything is working of Zakariyah Al Amri. Oman- five quickest times in the special. Thani climbing to fourth. give Qatar a 1-2-3 grip on the a steady pace after a cautious based Briton Shaun McGonigal Mohammed Al Meer (Mitsubishi) The leader coasted through podium, but the Kuwaiti’s con- start. The former event winner well. It is similar to the slipped from second to third after dropped six minutes. the re-run of Al Ghariyah to reach solation was a sizeable MERC 2 held second in his Škoda Fabia Ford and the Škoda. the fifth stage, but Zakariya Al Ofi Al Attiyah was 4.2 seconds the end-of-day service at Lusail advantage. R5 with British co-driver Marshall R5 is R5 but I had a was sidelined with drive train Clarke. good feeling from the issues. Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and co-driver Marshall Clarke (GBR) on their way to seal the second spot in “Good day, but very difficult,” After a windy and damp start the overall standings. said Al Kuwari. “We had two slow beginning. No water to proceedings yesterday, the punctures and we had to change on the stages this weather forecast was set to them. In general, we were clean morning but it was improve as Al Attiyah headed to and I am enjoying a lot. We were the far north of Qatar and the trying to get the speed. Both times a little bit windy and morning’s 19.86km special stage I did well in Al-Gharijah. I did not dusty. We did a good at Al Ruwais. expect the speed to be like that. job: Al Attiyah The Qatari was set to defend We are safe in second place. an already commanding 23.5- There is no way to catch Nasser, second advantage and he posted but there is a good gap behind three. The new stages are nice but a target time of 10min 42.2sec and me. We need to keep the car on hard. We don’t have enough extends his lead over Abdulaziz the road. The Škoda is not the tyres. We don’t have service and Al Kuwari to 43.8 seconds. correct car for desert rallies. we only had four tyres and two The three-time Dakar winner Maybe it’s better in Jordan and spares. There is a big gap between was in a class of his own, although Lebanon. In the desert, with high my car and R5 cars in terms of Al Thani put in a spirited display Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al Thani driving his Ford Fiesta R5 during yesterday’s Special Stages. speeds and bumps, three times I performance, but I will see what to set the fourth quickest time on saw the ground in front and was happens tomorrow.” his first gravel stage in an R5. Al almost going to roll...” Khalid Al Suwaidi and Nasser Thefiri held a useful MERC 2 The 1993 regional champion Khalifa Al Atya rounded off the advantage after Abdulla Al Kuwari Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al Thani top six in their Ford Fiesta R5s. dropped nearly three minutes enjoyed his first taste of an R5 Italy’s Stefano Marrini was clas- with suspension issues and retired Fiesta to hold third overall, while sified seventh and second in at the end of the special. Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri was MERC 2 in his Mitsubishi Lancer Abdullah Al Ruwahi also a fine fourth, topped the MERC 2 Evolution IX and Qatar’s Rashid ruined his chance of challenging rankings and fended off the chal- Al Mohannadi, Oman’s Saif Al for MERC 2 honours after lenge from two R5 cars to boot. Harthy and defending MERC 3 stopping with a broken rear sus- Al Thefiri, who is a double champion Henry Kahy rounded pension arm at the end of the Group N and MERC 2 regional off the top 10. stage. champion, said: “It’s a good day. Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled, Teams then tackled another We drive fast today but I took the Qatar’s Mohammed Al Meer and northerly special – the 18.94km safe line in the stages. We see a Jordan’s Asem Aref completing of Al Ghariyah – before heading big gap in MERC 2. We try to push the day in 11th, 12th and 13th to remote refuelling. Al Attiyah for the overall. I want to be top overall. was quickest again but Abdulaziz 2019 MANATEQ QATAR INTERNATIONAL RALLY – POSITIONS AFTER SS5: Nasser Khalifa Al Atya driving his Ford Fiesta R5. 1. Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 48min 49.9sec 2. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (QAT)/Marshall Clarke (GBR) Škoda Fabia R5 50min 14.4sec 3. Hamed bin Eid Al Thani (QAT)/Dale Moscatt (AUS) Ford Fiesta R5 53min 45.2sec 4. Meshari Al Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 53min 50.4sec 5. Khalid Al Suwaidi (QAT)/Adel Abdulla (QAT) Ford Fiesta R5 55min 18.8sec 6. Nasser Khalifa Al Atya (QAT)/Nicola Arena (ITA) Ford Fiesta R5 55min 37.4sec 7. Stefano Marrini (ITA)/Nicolas Garcia (ARG) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 00min 44.3sec 8. Rashid Al Mohannadi (QAT)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 05min 24.7sec 9. Saif Al Harthy (OMN)/Saif Al Minai (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 05min 48.6sec 10. Henry Kahy (LEB)/Musa Djiyerian (JOR) Škoda Fabia 1hr 09min 57.4sec 11. Ahmad Khaled (LEB)/Dany Kairouz (LEB) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 1hr 12min 54.5sec 12. Mohammed Al Meer (QAT)/Alexei Kuzmich (RUS) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1hr 18min 58.2sec 13. Asem Aref (JOR)/Faris Al Tal (JOR) Renault Clio 1hr 30min 21.2sec 2019 MANATEQ QATAR NATIONAL RALLY – POSITIONS AFTER SS5: 1. Jarah Al Touqi (OMN)/Issa Al Wardi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 1hr 02min 36.5sec 2. Zakariyah Al Amri (OMN)/Abdullah Al Amri (OMN) Subaru Impreza 1hr 12min 08.4sec 3. Shaun McGonigal (OMN)/Nath Marriott (OMN) Subaru Impreza STi 1hr 18min 10.8sec SATURDAY 16 MARCH 2019 SPORT 17 FIFA backs 48-team World Cup in 2022 AFP today because we have taken some FIFA President Gianni Infantino addresses the region,” added Infantino.