Nasser in cruise mode at Jordan

DEAD SEA: The fastest time on all 10 special stages enabled Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and French navigator Matthieu Baumel to extend their overall lead in the FIA Jordan Rally to a comfortable 7min 32.1sec on Friday evening.

The 12-time regional champion’s new Ford Fiesta R5 Evo 2 never missed a beat over some of the most spectacular graded rallying terrain in the FIA calendar and the 10-time event winner was flying high at the lowest place on earth.

“Steady, steady today,” said Nasser. “No risks, no mistakes, just drive the new car and stay safe. On the stage, in Suwayma, I tried to go flat out so see if I could beat the time I set in the stage last year in the Skoda and I had the same time to the second…”

The all-Jordanian crew of Marouf Abu Samra and navigator Malik Hariri earned a comfortable advantage in MERC 2 and held second overall at the end of the day in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. Abu Samra had been embroiled in a tight tussle with Khaled Juma until his rival damaged his Mitsubishi’s exhaust and lost three minutes putting out a small fire before the midday break.

Juma recovered strongly over the second loop of stages. He passed Saudi Arabia’s Rakan Al-Rashed to regain fourth overall and began to make in-roads into Meshari Al-Thefiri hold on third position. Only 50.1 seconds separated the pair at the end of the leg and Juma will be aiming for the last podium place on Saturday. Press Release