Attiyah and Carrera take lead at Oman Rally

Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Candido Carrera overcame two slow punctures to hold the advantage at the end of a punishing first leg of the 29th Oman International Rally on Friday.

- 

The Autotek Skoda Fabia RS crew won five of the six gravel stages in the Hajar mountains to the north and west of Sohar and were able to build up a lead of 41.2 seconds over Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud.

Al Rawahi retumed to active competition for the first time since an injury last summer and he settled in well, despite a puncture on the last stage and not feeling totally ready for high-level competition.

Attiyah said: “We kept up the pace. Two slow punctures during the day but we tried to manage. Still a long way to go but we will try and change some things on the car now for Qatar and Jordan to try and understand a few extra things.”

“Unfortunately, we had a fiat tyre on the last stage, said second-placed Rawahi.