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MANAMA (Bahrain): Mitsubishis filled nine of the top 10 places in the Bahrain International Rally, the second round of the eight-event FIA Middle East Rally Championship, but Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi moved into the overall series lead in a Subaru Impreza WRX.
After a Stewards' meeting on Thursday evening, the UAE's Rashid Al-Ketbi began the final eight stages with a 51s advantage over the eventual winner. He and co-driver Khalid Al-Kendi retained a slender advantage until the end of the 11th stage, when Al-Qassimi - who had beaten the UAE driver on both SS9 and SS10 - edged a mere one second ahead Al-Ketbi's fate was determined in the 12th stage when his Mitsubishi's engine failed.
Andreas Tsouloftas had been awarded the outright lead in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 by a timing error at the end of leg one, But when a three-minute penalty was imposed for a GPS infringement, the Cypriot slipped to fourth position behind Lebanese veteran Michel Saleh. The multiple Cyprus champion fought back to take a top three position and became embroiled in a freectic tussle with Saleh and Lebanese co-driver Ziad Chehab for the runners-up spot. Saleh - in his new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 - edged ahead after 14 stages, but Tsouloftas stormed through to second position in the final thrilling stage.
Amjad Farrah and Khaled Zakaria finished their second successive Middle East event in the Team Jordan Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 and gained five championship points for fourth position. They were fastest overall in the 15th stage and now hold joint second position in the championship. Saudi Arabia's Ahmed Al-Sabban and Irish co-driver Killian Duffy completed the top five. Saudi Arabia's Essa Al-Dossari was sixth overall.
Oman's Hamed Al-Wahaibi and Ulster co-driver Allan Harryman led after the opening stage on Thursday, only to fall foul of driveshaft and transmission problems. They began the second leg in 14th position and set a string of fastest stage times on Friday until they hit terminal gearbox trouble in the 13th stage.
"We had a problem with the gear linkage," said Al-Wahaibi. "But I have learned a lot from this rally. The car needs to be set-up very differently in this part of the world. We were very fast at times and that gives me confidence for the rest of the season."
The first notable retirement was defending Group N champion and top seed Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi, who rolled his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution on the opening stage and damaged the radiator.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari endured a miserable start. The Qatari lost four minutes in the opening stage and then a further four in the second section when he collected a puncture and damaged the Mitsubishi's bodywork. He then missed a braking point in the third stage and was helped back on to the stage by over 20 spectators. He retired on day two with mechanical problems.
"What a disaster. I had flat tyres on all five stages," said the Qatari. "I even had two flat tyres on one stage and was forced to change three more."
Two drivers represent the Kingdom of Bahrain in Mitsubishis. Abdulrahman Ghuloom and his wife Esther made an excellent start to their 2004 motorsport programme in Qatar recently and were joined by Ebrahim Al-Busmait and Nadeem Mohammed in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6s. Busmait finished 10th overall and Ghuloom was 13th.
At the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7, Oman's Hamed Al-Wahaibi had returned in style to the regional series for the first time since the 1998 Oman Rally by setting the fastest time through the opening timed stage. But he suffered from a broken driveshaft, differential problems and a jammed gear linkage which dropped him to 18th place after five stages. He held a lowly 16th position at the end of day one.
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