Nasser Al-Attiyah has achieved a valuable podium finish at the Morocco Rally in his direct duel with Sébastien Loeb for being the first champion of the new World Rally-Raid Championship. The title is decided in the Andalucía Rally.
The World Rally-Raid has experienced a convulsive debut campaign. The contest that takes over from the old World Cup of the specialty opened its doors in the Dakar, to then compete in Abu Dhabi. As a result of the current geopolitical situation, the championship had to give up the Rally of Kazakhstan, so the activity within the World Championship has not resumed until October, on the occasion of the Morocco Rally.
An appointment that has been favorable for the interests of Prodrive and the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team and at the same time totally detrimental to its strongest driver, Sébastien Loeb. While Guerlain Chicherit scored its first win with the BRX Hunter T1+ dyed with the colors of its structure and the Argentine ‘Orly’ Terranova took second position, Sébastien Loeb had problems in the fourth stage of the rally.
Al-Attiyah has 144 points, to Loeb’s 122. The Saudi Al-Rajhi, with 100 units, is not ruled out
Fact that Nasser Al-Attiyah has taken advantage of perfectly, even if the Toyota driver has not had his best rally yet. However, the Qatari has managed to take his Toyota Hilux T1+ to the finish line and close the Morocco Rally in third position. A podium that tastes like gold in his fight with Sébastien Loeb to be crowned the first FIA World Rally-Raid champion.
Nevertheless, the good pace of the BRX Hunter T1+ must be a serious concern for Nasser Al-Attiyah ahead of Dakar 2023, in the same way as the performance shown by the Audi RS Q e-tron E2 Within the ‘Open’ category of the Morocco Rally, it is at least a headache for all its rivals.
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an unfortunate breakdown
The point that can mark the resolution of the FIA World Rally-Raid title in favor of Nasser Al-Attiyah has been the breakdown in the power steering of Sébastien Loeb’s BRX Hunter T1+ in the fourth stage of the Morocco Rally. A mechanical failure that led the French driver to lose a lot of time and finish the test outside the ‘top 50’.
In the meantime, Nasser Al-Attiyah closed the Moroccan event in third position and with 33 points in his locker that allow you to reach 144 units. The Qatari is thus placed as leader of the contest with a 22-point lead over Sébastien Loeb. For his part, the Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi is third with 100 units, so he still has a chance to fight for the title.
It is decided in the Andalucía Rally
With these scores, it is clear that the first FIA World Rally-Raid champion will be decided at the Andalucía Rally, proves that due to the heat wave and the risk of fires, it has been moved from its original date to October. This change of dates has placed the Spanish event at the end of the World Cup calendar, so the Andalusian stages will witness the crowning of the champion.
In this sense and taking into account the proximity to the Dakar, it is expected that the three roosters of the championship can be in the Andalucía Rally in order to win the title. A nice duel on Spanish soil between the Toyota Hilux T1+ of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Yazeed Al-Rajhi and the BRX Hunter T1+ of Sébastien Loeb.
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool / Prodrive