Nasser extends his lead in Rally Kazakhstan

KENDERLY : Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah claimed his first stage victory in Rally Kazakhstan and extended his overall lead, after the fourth selective section of 274.17km across some of the remotest desert terrain in the Mangystau oblast, on Wednesday.

Nasser and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel, crewing an Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux, began the day second on the road and looked set to potentially cede the stage win to Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk for a third successive day. But the Saudi's Mini John Cooper Works Rally fell into a deep hole in a stretch of tricky sand dunes close to the finish and the crew had to wait for Mohammed Issa Abu Issa to arrive in a second Mini and offer support. Nasser duly reached the finish 58sec in front of Jakub Przygonski, while Yazeed eventually dropped 1hr 50min to the stage winner.

Przygonski began the day 8min 53sec behind the defending FIA World Cup champion and now finds himself 9min 51sec adrift and still coming under pressure from third-placed Aron Domzala in a second Toyota Hilux. Domzala was only two seconds behind his fellow Pole on the day’s stage after a fascinating tussle between the two.

Nasser said: “It was very hard today. It is a very interesting rally. We are happy to keep our lead and stay like this. The Mini is pushing a lot here. In a straight line the Mini is faster. But we took no risks and we try to manage each day. We did not see Yazeed. It was maybe a different route (he was on). We saw Timo (Gottschalk) but not the car. Tomorrow we have the opposite stage to the second day and we know it will not be easy.”

Meanwhile Adel Hussein Abdulla fell further behind Saeidan in the battle for T2 honours. Press Release