Akeel and Duple stun rivals to snatch Qatar International Baja lead

Lusail, Qatar: Saudi Arabian driver Dania Akeel and her French navigator Stephane Duple delivered a stunning performance to lead the car category afte...

Lusail, Qatar: Saudi Arabian driver Dania Akeel and her French navigator Stephane Duple delivered a stunning performance to lead the car category after a dramatic day’s action at the Qatar International Baja on Friday.

The Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux crew won the opening stage and then ceded time to their main rivals through the second one but did enough to take a lead of 92.9 seconds into the night halt. 

As a result, they lead all the crews in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup. 

Akeel said: “That’s it! This is our first stage win overall. I had a great time. Stéphane was amazing. The cap was changing. The stage was fast, twisty, rocky and a really nice sector by the sea. That was really steep for the first time. That was really good training. We are in a perfect position for tomorrow. It’s going to be a really fun ride.”

Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov hold second and lead the FIA World Baja Cup crews in their new petrol-engined X-Raid Mini JCW Rally 3.0i, while the Portuguese pairing of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro are third overall and lead the SSV section in a Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR.