Dakar Rally champion Al Attiyah returns to competitive action

Bengaluru/Doha, February 14: After a brief lull, Dakar Rally champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah returns to competitive action in the opening round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies to be held in Qatar from February 21 to 26.

Technical issues had cost Al Attiyah, the chance to continue his remarkable run of successes last year, but the recent Dakar winner starts as the favourite to win the event for a sixth time in his trusty Toyota Hilux.

Fresh from his domination of the recent Dakar Rally, where he and French navigator Matthieu Baumel guided Toyota to a first ever victory on the world's toughest rally, Al Attiyah will try and win back the FIA World Cup and Qatar titles that he last won in 2017.

Al Attiyah's home off-road event is close to his heart and the host nation's sporting all-rounder has already secured victory on the event on five occasions (2012 and 2014-2017) in seven years.

Organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation, and running as the first round of the prestigious FIA off-road series for the first time, the event has attracted a provisional 28 vehicles.

Drivers and co-drivers from 19 countries feature on an impressive entry list that has been sent to the FIA for final approval.

Defending champion

Poland's Jakub Przygonski won the FIA World Cup last season and the MINI John Cooper Works Rally driver tops the field and returns to try and repeat the outright Qatar win he secured last year.

The Pole teams up with new German co-driver Timo Gottschalk this season. His former navigator Tom Colsoul has switched to the Toyota team and will sit alongside Dutchman Bernhard Ten Brinke.

Frenetic competition

The competition at the head of the field in likely to be frenetic with Russian driver Vladimir Vasilyev and his navigator Konstantin Zhiltsov hoping to overcome the event's notoriously difficult navigation.

They will be hoping to fend off the challenge from the likes of the Saudi Arabian duo of Yasir Seaidan and Yazeed Al Rajhi and Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal.

Qatari challenge

Apart from Al Attiyah, the other Qatari to watch out for is Mohamed Issa Abu Issa, who is the returning Qatari Mohammed Abu Issa in an SMG Buggy.

Al Attiyah and Abu Issa lead impressive 12-strong Qatari contingent who will do battle across the length and breadth of the deserts.

Female competitor

The sole female competitor on the provisional entry list is the experienced former Italian quad rider Camelia Liparoti. She has switched to the T3 category and heads to Qatar with French navigator Max Delfino in a Yamaha YZX 1000R.

The Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally gets underway with a ceremonial start on The Pearl-Qatar on February 21. The Losail Sports Arena plays host to the event for the first time with the bivouac located in the grounds of the stadium.