ABU DHABI: Qatar’s Adel Hussein Abdullah claimed a memorable victory in the T2 category at the 2016 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in his Nissan Patrol yesterday.
The Qatari hit the front of the five-day second round of the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup with two days to go and drove in a cautious manner over the final kilometres yesterday to record a winning margin of 5min 48sec over Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Saeidan.
It was the regular MERC navigator and quad rider’s biggest career win to date and a superb result for the Japanese manufacturer and title sponsor of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
“It was difficult for me to be ahead of Saeiden,” said Adel Hussein Abdullah.
“He was pushing to the maximum, but I tried to be in one pace and make no mistakes and, in the end, I tried to drive fast and clean in the stage today.”
“Winning the stage today was not important. The car was perfect. It was new for me and the first time I drove a Nissan in cross-country. We worked hard to get everything right and it worked out with this result.”
Running with support from Nissan Middle East and Al-Masaood Automobiles, Emil Khneisser, the Abu Dhabi-based Lebanese Nissan Patrol Y62 driver, and his Russian navigator Alexei Kuzmich could not rectify the problems that plagued progress on Wednesday. Rather than damage the car, the crew decided not to complete the final section of the event on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Al Feraihi and his Omani navigator Abdulhaleem Al Busaidi achieved a superb 11th place in their T1 Nissan Patrol and Emirati Matar Al Mansoori finished the rally in 16th overall in a privately run T1 Nissan Patrol. The Peninsula
