Qatar’s Al Attiyah clinches late win in Spain

TERUEL, SPAIN: Overdrive Racing’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel returned to cross-country rallying action for the first time since the Andalucia Rally in mid-May and snatched a late victory in the three-stage Baja Spain Aragon, round five of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, yesterday. 

Leading by 64 seconds heading into the final stage, Al Attiyah lost time to French driver Sebastien Loeb during the early kilometres of the selective section and looked to be heading for second place until his rival dropped around 14 minutes near the finish with power steering issues and slipped to seventh overall. “It was a difficult last stage for everybody but I am quite happy to win this race,” said Al Attiyah, who suffered tyre wear on the abrasive surfaces in the high temperatures and duly recorded his fourth Spanish Baja success (2008, 2016 and 2017) and his third with Toyota.