Qatar’s Adel still in title contention

QATAR’S Adel Hussein Abdulla finished second in the sixth round of support category (T2) at the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in Hungary last week to stay in contention for title.

Adel and his French navigator Jean-Michel Polato, in a Nissan Patrol, lost time on the penultimate day with a technical problem. But despite the setback, they made up for it on the  final day and finished 6min, 26sec behind series leader Yasir Saeidan of Saudi Arabia.

Adel now has 130 points, 11 behind Yasir. With three more rounds — Poland, Morocco and Portugal — to go, he is still confident of winning the title. Qatar’s Mohammed Al Harqan is a distant third with 72 points.

“It was a bit frustrating because we had a problem with the navigational trip metre and didn’t know the exact distances between some of the corners in the road book,” said Adel, who is competing with the support of Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation and Nissan Middle East.

“This caused us to slow down and we lost vital seconds here and there. I’m still happy to finish second after all the issues we had. I think we’re in a strong position for the championship.

“There is plenty at stake, with rounds in Poland, Morocco and Portugal coming up. So I’m going to keep on pushing right till the end of the season. I’ve the belief and the confidence with Nissan Patrol. It’s a very competitive car,” the Doha-based driver added.