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Al Attiyah on course to defend world title after Hungary win

Al Attiyah won four of the weekend's five timed tests.

Nasser Al Attiyah

Bengaluru, August 14: Overdrive Racing's Nasser Al Attiyah moved one step closer to a third successive FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies title with a convincing start-to-finish victory in the Veszprem-based Hungarian Baja, round eight of the series.

The Qatari and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel clinched victory on the Prologue stage on Friday evening and that paved the way for a dominant performance in their Toyota Hilux that saw them reach the podium finish with a winning margin of 3min 38sec over former WRC star Mikko Hirvonen of Finland. Al Attiyah won four of the weekend's five timed tests.

It was the fourth win for Al Attiyah in Hungary after previous successes in 2008, 2014 and 2015 and the sixth of the season in the FIA World Cup for Overdrive Racing after victories in Russia, Dubai, Qatar, Kazakhstan and Spain and a bonus victory for Christian Lavieille in China's Taklimakan Rally.

"It was not an easy race at all. The conditions were difficult on Saturday and I did not want to take any risks," said the Qatari.

"Mikko was always close behind and I could never relax, but the win puts me in a strong position now to retain the FIA World Cup title," he added.

Story first published: Monday, August 14, 2017, 11:54 [IST]
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