What happened at the Morocco Rally left him Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) the title on a platter of the first FIA World Raidsthe new W2RC. He had to defend his 22-point lead in the World Championship overall against the 9-time World Rally ChampionSébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) in the decisive test, the last appointment: the Andalusia Rally, which takes place these days until next October 23. Everything seemed in favor for the Qatari, but he made things complicated for himself in the qualifying prologue by making a serious mistake when driving at 45 km/h in an area limited to 30, something that relegated him from second position to 21st. Those are complicated things for him. He had to exit stage 1 with over a minute lost compared to his great rival, aware that the points awarded to the winner of each stage may make it difficult for him to defend a crown within his reach. And in that context, Nasser Al-Attiyah did what he does best: go full throttle, very aggressive, leading at the start of the race despite starting in eleventh position, behind a slower car that he could lose time. And he won stage 1 in a big way.
Nasser showed strength, continuing to attack with his Toyota Hilux, where He led the first day with an advantage of 917” over Al-Rajhi and 11”16 over Sébastien Loeb, that he could do nothing to get close to the Qatari cyclone.
In this way, the four-time Dakar champion and current king of the world’s toughest event, was able to increase his advantage in the general classification with a new stage of victory, changing the tables in the situation if where he placed himself in the sun above, forcefully amending his error, leaving no room for doubts to begin to appear.
Now, in stage 2, Sébastien Loeb has no choice but to go on the attack in search of more points to put pressure on a Nasser who can’t afford to make any mistakes if he wants to win a first FIA world raid title.
Benavides won the motorcycles
On motorcycles, Argentinian Kevin Benavides (KTM) won stage 1B of the Andalusia Rally, which is also the final round of the FIM World Rally Championship ‘Cross Country’ (W2RC), a contest dominated by Sunderland (GasGas) who with 22 points ahead. Quintanilla’s Honda and 24 points ahead of Brabec’s Honda. Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) from Salamanca was sixth after a very good stage despite the decision to open the track
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
