(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Aktau City, Kazakhstan: Qatar's celebrity sportsman Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah will create another little piece of history of his own by leading 21 rivals when the inaugural Rally Kazakhstan flags off on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea at the isolated city of Aktau, Kazakhstan today.
The new fifth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies will welcome Kazakhstan to the official world of international FIA motor sport as teams will tackle six selective sections devised by co-ordinator Sergey Talantsev in a route of over 2,500km through the vast desert wastelands that surround Aktau and the coastal region.
Al Attiyah arrived in Central Asia trailing FIA World Cup leader Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi by 15 points, but his Abu Dhabi based rival has opted to compete at the WRC event in Portugal this weekend. That decision means that the Doha-based two-time Dakar winner has a clear opportunity to push for the win and snatch the outright lead in this year's FIA World Cup for the first time.
'I came to Kazakhstan in 2009 for the Silk Way Rally and we passed through Zhanaozen nearby, but this is my first time in Aktau, said Al Attiyah, who travelled to the event following a press reception in Moscow after a week's shooting training at a camp in Baku after the Jordan Rally.
'I like to keep myself busy, joked the Qatari, who was able to test his Toyota Hilux for the first time on a short gravel section near Aktau on Friday afternoon.
Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al Rajhi will have other ideas. The Riyadh driver has shown an impressive turn of speed in his X-raid Mini All4 Racing and he and German navigator Timo Gottschalk will be eager to make up lost ground in the championship after technical issues cost them a possible podium finish in Qatar. Al Rajhi has the pace to match Al Attiyah and a fascinating duel is in prospect over the next six days.
A couple of fastest times brought Poland's Jakub Przygonski into the spotlight in Qatar last month and the former enduro rider proved that his decision to switch to rallying on four wheels with a second X-raid Mini was a wise one. He holds seventh in the points' standings, while Qatar's Mohammed Abu Issa holds third position and drives the third Mini in Kazakhstan. Abu Issa made the switch from racing on a quad and has adapted quickly to rallying in a car.
Baja Russia winner Aron Domzala led the FIA World Cup after the first two rounds, but the Pole suffered in the intense heat of the deserts of the UAE at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and slipped to sixth in the rankings after Qatar. Maciej Marton replaces Szymon Gospodarczyk in the co-driver's seat on this occasion.
Czech Miroslav Zapletal is one of the most experienced drivers in the championship. He has been developing his Hummer H3 during the course of the series and will be aiming for a podium finish to boost his season after a disappointing start. Kazakh Yuriy Sazonov drives a second Hummer H3 and heads the local challenge with fellow Kazakh co-driver Vitalyi Yevtyekhov.
Also looking at potential top five finishers are the Russian driver Viktor Khoroshavtsev in his Aspec Motorsport-run BMW 3 CC and Lithuania's Antanas Juknevicius at the wheel of a Toyota Hilux. The remainder of the T1 category is filled by Kazakh drivers; namely Yerden Shagirov, Zhanat Zhamimbetov, Dmitry Pitulov, Daniyar Alibayev and Andrey Drozd.
Saudi Arabia's Yasir Saeidan and Qatar's Adel Abdulla resume their duel for victory in the T2 category for series production cross-country vehicles, although Rally Kazakhstan President Marat Abykayev and fellow countrymen Kirill Chernenkov and Pavel Loginov will be hoping to upset the series regulars and claim podium finishes on their home event.
The French duo of Patrice Garrouste and Claude Fournier will decide the outcome of the T3 battle in their Polaris RZR 1000s. Fournier won the category in Qatar last month and holds a joint lead in the championship with the UAE's Ahmed Al-Maqoodi, the winner of T3 in Abu Dhabi. There is also a National event running behind the main FIA rally.
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