[ad_1]
ALGHERO (SARDINIA): The Oman Rally Group’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi gained his first style of gravel rallying within the FIA Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) on the Rally Italia Sardegna however his progress after the opening six levels had been hampered by brake issues, overheating and an engine sensor concern.
After 4 velocity exams on Friday afternoon and two specials on Saturday morning, the Omani had been frequently pissed off in his M-Sport Poland-prepared Ford Fiesta Rally3, though he was gaining expertise of the demanding Sardinian gravel levels and the tempo wanted to be aggressive on this yr’s JWRC.
He and British co-driver Ross Whittock opened their account on Friday afternoon with two passes via a pair of gravel levels between Osilo and Tergu and Sedini and Castelsardo to the north of Alghero on the northwest of the island.
Al-Rawahi safely negotiated the opening stage in a time of 19min 42.1sec on a particular the place Estonian Romet Jürgenson clocked the quickest time and moved into the lead. After setting the eleventh quickest time on the primary stage, Al-Rawahi was ninth on the second, as he rapidly tailored to the demanding gravel terrain, regardless of brake points and a priority about overheating.
However an engine sensor concern induced the Ford Fiesta to lose energy earlier than the repeat runs via the 2 levels and Al-Rawahi reached the in a single day halt in Alghera in 14th of the registered JWRC runners.
He mentioned: “We completed the opening 4 levels however I had points with the brakes on the primary one and the automobile was overheating. Then we misplaced the ability within the second stage and we needed to cruise via the third and fourth levels. The workforce managed to kind the problem on the service in order that we had been in a position to proceed.”
With the sensor concern sorted for Saturday morning, Al-Rawahi tackled the primary move via the Tempio Pausania stage the place Jürgenson continued to be the pace-setter. However ongoing brake points after simply two kilometres of the stage and a minor accident consequently continued to frustrate the Omani, though he was in a position to preserve 14th place in JWRC heading to the sixth Tula-Erula particular.
On a stage the place Bolivia’s Bruno Bulacia overhauled Jürgenson to grab a 5.3-second lead, Al-Rawahi was nonetheless unable to showcase his potential and a 90-second time penalty for being 9 minutes late on the time management initially of the stage pushed the Omani right down to fifteenth within the class.
After additional motion within the Tempio Pausania, Tula-Erula, Monte Lerno-Monti Di Ala and Coiluna-Loelle levels on Saturday afternoon, two passes via the Cala Flumini and Sassari-Argentiera specials rounds off the weekend’s motion on the Mediterranean island on Sunday morning.
[ad_2]
