STAGE 3
Qatar’s rally ace Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah edged closer to defending his title at the Andalucia Rally in Spain after he won the third and penultimate leg on Saturday.
Al-Attiyah and his French co-driver Matthieu Baumel in Toyota Hilux emerged fastest in the 283km route in 3:12.38 seconds. Going into today’s 284km final leg, Al-Attiyah and Baumel hold a 4.43-second lead over local pair Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz.
Saturday, Sainz and Cruz finished third in Mini Cooper behind Saudi’s Yazeed al-Rajhi and his German co-driver Dirk Von Zitzewitz, who were behind the wheel of Toyota Hilux.
Meanwhile, Nasser’s brother Khalifa al-Attiyah (South Racing) was on course to winning the T4 category. Al-Attiyah and co-driver Xavier Panseri, who had won the first and second leg, finished third on Saturday in their Can Am Maverick XRS.
STAGE 3 Results
1. Nasser al-Attiyah / Mathieu Baumel; Toyota Hilux; Time: 3:12.38 seconds
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi / Dirk von Zitzewitz; Toyota Hilux; +1.48
3. Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz; Mini John Cooper Works Rally; +3.17
4. Mattias Ekström / Emil Bergkvist; Mini John Cooper Works Buggy; +7.02
5. Erik van Loon / Sebastien Delaunay; Toyota Hilux; +10.09
6. Guillaume de Mevius / Tom Colsoul; OT3; +12.47
7. Paulo Ferreira / Jorge Monteiro; Toyota Hilux; +13.45
8. Mitchell Guthrie / Ola Floene; OT3; +14.42
9. Denis Krotow / Konstantin Zilcow; Mini John Cooper Works Rally; +16.02
10. Laia Sanz / Daniel Oliveras; Mini All4 Racing; +17.00