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Sednaya: Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Ulster co-driver Chris Patterson romped to one of the most one-sided victories in the history of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
They won 12 of the 13 special stages of the 8th Syrian International Rally, which finished in Sednaya on Saturday.
The defending regional champions began the final day almost four minutes in front of their nearest rivals and produced another masterclass performance over the fast gravel stages that make the Syrian event one of the most challenging in the Middle East. Their winning margin was a staggering 5m20.7s.
"It was a fantastic rally for me and the team," said Al-Attiyah.
"I felt comfortable from the start and never felt under any pressure. We needed this win to keep the lead in the championship and give me more confidence with the new car. Now we go to Lebanon, where I would dearly love to beat the local favourite Roger Feghali on his home rally. I will try my best."
Fight for second
Sharjah's Abdullah Al Qasimi won a close battle for second position with Qatar's Misfer Al Merri, after the pair had been separated by just 0.1 seconds after the ninth stage.
Oman's Nizar Al Shanfari finished fourth and 20-year-old Cypriot Nicos Thomas rounded off the top five at his first ever desert rally.
Twenty-three of the original 32 starters began day two, although Al-Attiyah was in no mood to take risks over the closing six stages, where Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al Rajhi had nothing to lose and planned the big attack.
Nicos Thomas and Nick Georgiou were hoping to bounce back from first day punctures, while Oman's Nizar Al Shanfari eventually restarted in fourth place after his poor sixth stage time had been corrected and he had pushed Thomas down to fifth.
Syria's Haitham Al Yousefi was unable to continue from 10th place when his engine failed to start at Deir Ateyah.
Al Attiyah was again the fastest through the 20.5km eighth stage and extended his lead to 4m 18.9s, as Al Qasimi and Al-Merri maintained second and third positions and Al-Shanfari consolidated fourth.
Mechanical problems
But Lebanon's Michel Saleh endured a miserable stage, joining teammate Shaikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum on the list of retirements when the engine expired on the subsequent road section.
This earned Kuwait's Salah Bin Eidan and Lebanon's Nick Georgiou sixth and seventh places.
Al Rajhi's intended push up the leader board petered out after the eighthstage; he had dropped over two minutes with mechanical problems before withdrawing at the end of the special when he was spotted receiving outside assistance.
Al Attiyah's lead was extended to 4m 27.2s through Mrah, as Al Marri managed to nip in front of Al Qasimi and take second position by just 0.1 seconds.
The remainder of the top 10 held station heading into the punishing Nabk special.
Al Attiyah noticeably eased his pace through Nabk and still set the fastest time, as Al Qasimi regained second position by beating Al Marri by 24 seconds.
Georgiou set the third fastest time and began to apply the pressure on Eidan for sixth place. He trailed the Kuwaiti by 36.1 seconds with three stages remaining.
Al Attiyah was in cruise control through the 11th stage and saw his lead stretched to 5m 05s, as Al Marri reduced Al Qassimi's hold on second position to 22.9 seconds, with a mere second separating the podium-placed drivers.
The Qatari again set the pace through Mrah 2 to extend his advantage to 5m 14.3s and Al Qassimi edged a further 3.6 seconds in front of Al-Merri to tighten his hold on second place overall.
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