• Khalifa Al Mutaiwei finished third
• Al Rajhi and Al Mutaiwei second and third in the overall standings
Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi and his Portuguese navigator Filipe Palmeiro won the second leg of the Sealine Cross Country Rally. Meanwhile, Khalifa Al Mutaiwei (UAE) and Andreas Schulz (GER) also had a successful day. They set the third-fastest time, with their MINI ALL4 Racing, thus passing Jean-Louis Schlesser in the overall standings. Meanwhile, the Russian pairing Ilya Kuznetsov / Roman Elagin finished third, with their BMW X3 CC.
Today’s special stage was held on the same route as yesterday’s but today, the 330.51 kilometres had to be covered in the opposite direction. Al Rajhi and Palmeiro in their MINI ALL4 Racing proved to be the quickest right from the start and even a puncture couldn’t prevent them from securing the leg win. So, Nasser Al Attiyah, the winner of leg one, had to settle for finishing second. With this win, Al Rajhi /Palmeiro consolidated their second position in the overall standings while reducing the gap to the current leader, Al Attiyah, at the same time.
For Al Mutaiwei and Schulz, finishing third in today’s special stage also proved to be helpful in two areas. On the one hand, they worked their way up to third position in the overall standings and on the other, they now hold a 15-minute lead over Schlesser, their toughest rival in the battle for the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup title. Russia’s Kuznetsov also experienced a trouble-free second special stage, with his BMW X3 CC, and worked his way up to eighth position in the overall standings by coming seventh, today.
Result leg 2:
1st Y. Al-Rajhi (KSA)/F. Palmeiro (PRT) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 53m 27s
2nd N. S. Al-Attiyah (QAT)/L. Cruz Senra (ESP) Toyota Hilux – 2h 54m 39s
3rd K. Al-Mutaiwei (UAE)/A. Schulz (DEU) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 03m 15s
4th F. Al-Attiyah (QAT)/M. Baumel (FRA) Toyota HiLux – 3h 08m 40s
5th L. Alvarez (ARG)/B. Graue (ARG) Toyota Hilux – 3h 13m 04s
6th J.-L. Schlesser (FRA)/K. Zlitstov (RUS) Schlesser Original – 3h 18m 56s
7th I. Kusnetsov (RUS)/R. Elagin (RUS) BMW X3 CC – 3h 43m 28s
...
Overall standings after leg 2:
1st N. S. Al-Attiyah (QAT)/L. Cruz Senra (ESP) Toyota Hilux – 6h 01m 58s
2nd Y. Al-Rajhi (KSA)/F. Palmeiro (PRT) MINI ALL4 Racing – 6h 10m 53s
3rd K. Al-Mutaiwei (UAE)/A. Schulz (DEU) MINI ALL4 Racing – 6h 30m 01s
4th L. Alvarez (ARG)/B. Graue (ARG) Toyota Hilux – 6h 31m 23s
5th F. Al-Attiyah (QAT)/M. Baumel (FRA) Toyota HiLux – 6h 32m 51s
6th J.-L. Schlesser (FRA)/K. Zlitstov (RUS) Schlesser Original – 6h 43m 50s
…
8th I. Kusnetsov (RUS)/R. Elagin (RUS) BMW X3 CC – 7h 10m 34s
