Abu Dhabi Racing leader Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi clinched second spot at the Kuwait international rally, round two of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), on Saturday and further consolidated his overall second position in the series.
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On Friday, Sheikh Khalid was barely a few seconds behind the leader but following several bumps on SS 3 the Abu Dhabi Citroën DS3 RRC driver lost his way when his windshield got covered with dust which hindered his vision.
On Saturday, however, Sheikh Khalid was second fastest on the opening test but stepped on the gas on SS9, which he won by over five seconds to narrow the gap to the leader.
Going into the service break, Al Qassimi was about a minute behind the leader and while it looked near impossible to overhaul this lead, the goal for the ADR driver was to protect his overall second position.
Following the restart, Al Qassimi hit misfortune again when he punctured a tyre on SS 11 and lost nearly 25 seconds.
But the DS3 RRC driver bounced back and won SS 12 to claw back some seconds and reduce the gap to the leader.
The Abu Dhabi native eventually finished second overall and continues to hold on to second place in the championship.
Sheikh Khalid said: “It was a tough rally, some very good competition so I’m happy to be on the podium.
"I had some bad luck on the first day when dust stuck to my windshield and I had visibility problems as a result of which I lost near 40 seconds.
“Then today while I was catching up I lost another 25 seconds due to a puncture. It is not the result I wanted but I’ll take second after all the issues.”
Meanwhile, ADR’s junior drivers had a mixed campaign in Kuwait with Mohammed Al Sahlawi leading the 2WD category after his team-mates Mohammed Al Mutawaa retired with mechanical issues, Saeed Bintouq crashed out and Mansour Belhelei too retired with a broken driveshaft.
On Saturday, however, misfortune struck Al Shalawi who retired with a broken driveshaft on SS8, the opening stage.
This gave the lead to Belhelei with Bintowq and Al Mutawaa in second and third place respectively. However, on the final SS13 Bintowq encountered gear issues and was forced to retire.
