Al-Attiyah secures 2006 Championship with 4th Troodos Rally win
Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah secured himself the 2006 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) today, with a comfortable victory at this weekend's Troodos Rally in Cyprus.
Al-Attiyah and co-driver Chris Patterson led from the outset, winning almost every special stage in their Subaru Impreza N12 2006. The victory also secured Al-Attiyah the 2006 MERC title. His closest rival for the title, Suhail Al Maktoum of the UAE, entered the Troodos Rally 18 championship points behind Al-Attiyah, but Al Maktoum and co-driver Wael Murjan could only steer their Subaru to 3rd place in Cyprus despite a strong performance which saw them finish every stage of Day 2 in the top three.
The podium was completed by Cypriot ace Andreas Tsouloftas and co-driver Savvas Laos, who won a comfortable 2nd place with a confident and assured drive in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.
From the first stage, it became clear that Al-Attiyah - the 2005 MERC Champion - was set on winning his 4th consecutive Troodos victory. He started Day 1 in typically impressive form – setting the fastest times in Special Stages 1 and 2 and building a 54.91 second lead over Tsouloftas before heading into service at lunchtime.
Al-Attiyah went from strength to strength in the afternoon, racking up fastest times through SS3 and 4 to build an overall end-of-day lead of 1m 34.39 seconds over 2nd placed Tsouloftas.
Day 2 saw Al-Attiyah continue to lead the field on every stage bar SS10 (which went to Tsouloftas), resulting in an end-of-event time of 3h 55.54m – a 2m 38.24s lead over Tsouloftas.
Spirits were high, especially amongst the lead drivers. Al-Attiyah was all smiles coming out of service at lunchtime today, confirming that while the stages were rougher than yesterday, the car was running well and he was enjoying himself. Tsouloftas was similarly upbeat, telling press that he was "Loving it!"
Organised by the Cyprus Automobile Association (CAA) with sponsorship from the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, Chevrolet and Valvoline, the 2006 Troodos Rally saw the competing crews battling for victory in the Cypriot countryside with occasional heavy rains helping to keep things unpredictable.
40 teams started the rally on Friday morning, with competitors from countries including Qatar, the UAE, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, the UK and Cyprus. 32 took to the road on Saturday morning, and 17 finished the event this afternoon.
Any rally in Cyprus is a challenge, and this year's Troodos Rally was no exception. Cypriot drivers Andreas Peratikos (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI) and Andreas Philippou (Subaru Impreza STi) were amongst the drivers who went out on Day 1. Day 2 saw the field reduce even further with a number of drivers not completing the event, including Pantelis Pamboukka (Subaru Impreza STi) and Chris Thomas (Subaru Impreza STi) despite spirited drives from both.
The Troodos event is always popular and there was a real sense of fun at this year's event. The Service Park – which was located at the International State Fair grounds of the island's capital Nicosia - attracted many local and international fans, all of whom were determined to make the most of the glimpses of sunshine.
The competing crews tackled a challenging line-up of special stages, which amounted to 236.4km of a total 734.01km covered over the weekend.
The first day's action got underway at 9am from the State Fair Service Park with drivers heading out to tackle stages at Asinou - Agios Theodoros and Kourdali – Kapouras.
Day 2 started earlier, with the first car leaving Parc Ferme at 08:00. The drivers then tackled stages at Doryforikos – Delikipos, Vavatsinia – Mandra Kambiou, Agios Onoufrios – Agioi Vavatsinias, and Kofinou – Doryforikos.
The rally finished this afternoon in Nicosia with the Ceremonial Finish taking place at Eleftheria Square at 17:30.
Press Officer of the event Chris Christodoulou had nothing but praise for what he rightly described as an "extremely successful event": "We've also earned ourselves an exceptional reputation as a great rallying nation, but Cyprus is also one of the world's best-loved holiday destinations. So it's no surprise that everyone who comes to Cyprus enjoys their time here – the drivers, the fans, the officials. Motorsport is a serious business, but it can also be a lot of fun. That's what makes events like the Troodos Rally so successful year after year. We look forward to welcoming all the competitors and fans back in April for the 2007 Troodos Rally."
2006 Troodos Rally - Top 3 Final Results
- N. Al-Attiyah (QA) / C. Patterson Subaru Impreza 3:55:54.32
- A. Tsouloftas (CY) / S. Laos Mitsubishi Evo IX 3:58:32.56
- S. Al Maktoum (UAE) / W.Murjan Subaru Impreza 3:59:25.22