Already a winner in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Nasser Al-Attiyah doubled the stakes, winning this weekend in the brand new Portugal rally-raid. At the end of a solid race, without any real mistakes with his new co-driver Edouard Boulanger, the Qatari won the event on his Hunter Prodrive, with 2’49 ahead of the Portuguese Joao Ferreira (X-Raid Mini) and 3 ’36” on Lucas Moraes (Toyota Hilux). The Brazilian climbed onto the podium, at the expense of Carlos Sainz, by snatching thanks to his scratch time in the last special, twelve seconds ahead of Al-Attiyah.
In difficulty during the second part of the race, very happy to have finally finished, Carlos Sainz finished just off the podium with his X-Raid Mini. The Spaniard thus cedes the lead in the World Championship to Al-Attiyah, who has 112 points against 100 for the former double world rally champion. Yazeed Al-Rahji (Toyota Hilux), fifth in Portugal, is third with 79 points.
Shareina winner on motorbike, Loeb and Van Beveren finish well
As for Sébastien Loeb, he ended his week in style, achieving the 6th fastest time in today’s special with his Taurus T3, in the Challenger category. The Frenchman will be able to regret this lost hour, Friday, with an engine overheating, since he is 22nd at the final finish with 1h02 behind Al-Attiyah, and only 42 minutes behind winner of his category, the Lithuanian Rokas Baciuska. “It was a good race with some great stages, interesting sectors,” noted the nine-time world rally champion. We weren’t there with our usual car but it was a good experience with a lot of mud and complicated conditions. »
On the motorbike, the Spaniard Tosha Shareina (Honda) did not give up during the last special, where he took second place, and won. The podium is completed by Sebastian Buhler (Hero) and the Portuguese Bruno Santos (Husqvarna). Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) won the last special and regained a place overall to finish 6th.
There are now two events remaining on the Championship calendar, starting with the Desafio Ruta 40 in Argentina, from June 2 to 8, before the final round, the Morocco Rally, from October 5 to 11, where Loeb will make his first appearance with Dacia .
