Rally-Raid
The second stage of the Andalusia Rally canceled, Al-Attiyah leader
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) is leader of the 2022 Andalusia Rally. © DPPI / F. Le Floc'h
The second stage of Rally of Andalusia (Spain) should have offered 335 km of special near Malaga on hilly terrain. Finally, the final of the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC) will take place on Friday October 21 due to weather conditions.
David Castera, the Race Director, explains this decision. “We have taken the decision to cancel the second stage of the Andalusia Rally as our helicopters were unable to reach the special stage due to unfavorable weather conditions. The course itself was mostly clear, but it is 120 kilometers (from the Dos Hermanas service park. Editor’s note) and the pilots would have had to cross very foggy areas, with no visibility.
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We held on as long as possible before canceling the stage. We shortened the route as the hours went by, but we had to make a decision at 14 p.m. When the clock struck two, our helicopters were still unable to reach the stage, so we had no choice but to leave it at that. »
This cancellation of the special suits Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota). The leaders of the W2RC had taken the lead of the event the evening before the first stage. “On Thursday we decided to attack from the start and we did it very well, without any mistakes, explains the Qatari. The time we achieved is incredible. We will try to continue like this. Today (Thursday) we won the stage, we scored five points for the championship, and we are leaders... It was not easy to overtake, there were three or four Can-Am pilots in front of us and one of them broke our windshield, but I didn't take any risks, because you have to respect the other competitors. »
Winner of the Prologue, Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin (BRX) had the task of opening the way, but got lost. “ It wasn't a starting position problem, we had navigation problems. We lost seven minutes looking for a crossing point, and that's a long time. Then we just tried to finish, but we also had a problem with the power steering. I could barely turn in the slow corners and halfway through the stage I thought it was over. I was able to finish driving consistently and smoothly. »
2022 Andalusia Rally standings after stage 2:
Medhi Casaurang
Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!
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