Al-Attiyah and Carrera in cruise control after opening leg of Qatar International Rally

Lusail, Qatar: Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Candido Carrera were firmly in command of the 2026 Qatar International Rally after six special stages to the north of Doha on Friday.

The Autotek Škoda Fabia RS won five of the gravel speed tests and headed into the night halt with a comfortable advantage of 92 seconds over Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and his brother Nasser in a Sarrazin Škoda.

Al-Attiyah said: “Today we had some slow punctures and we tried to manage. I think in this kind of race you need to be careful and not have a crazy speed. We did a good job and have a decent lead. This is a good gap but tomorrow we need to be strong. The suspension was much better this afternoon. We stiffened it a bit.”

Al-Kuwari added: “Sometimes to be behind Nasser you are like the winner of the rally. It’s not bad. I am missing some mileage but I am happy. We didn’t push like hell. We will try and improve a little tomorrow.”

Mohammed Al-Marri belied his lack of Rally2 experience to mix it with his more experienced rivals from the outset. The young Qatari teamed up with Frenchman Pierre Delorme to drive a Citroën C3 for the first time and held a strong third place.

Al-Marri said: “We will try to hold our gap to at least make it a top three on the podium for Qatari guys. I don’t have the seat time in the car but I am trying to do my best.”

Stopping to change a flat tyre on the opening stage cost Hamza Bakhashab and Lorcan Moore over three minutes in their Jameel Motorsport Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, but the Saudi found a good pace from then on and climbed back to fifth at the midday point. He was then able to pass Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Ziad Chehab over the afternoon’s stages and settled into fourth place. Al-Atya continued to lead the FIA Master Driver category in his Ford Fiesta.

Bakhashab said: “The second loop was way better than the first one. It was cleaner and faster. Still a lot of catching up to do after the puncture.”

Al-Atya added: “I enjoyed the second loop. I pushed more and improved my times. We need to keep calm like that and finish the rally. We need to be clever tomorrow.”

A double puncture on the second stage ruined Abdullah Al-Rawahi’s challenge for a maiden win in Qatar and the Omani was forced to stop and change one tyre with the loss of over five minutes. He and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud persevered with their battle-worn Škoda, only to get another flat tyre on the last stage of the day. They slipped back to seventh.

Al-Rawahi said: “A lot of flat tyres for us today and we lost a lot of time. I don’t think we can recover unless someone else has punctures. The pace was there. I am happy with that. We can recover one or two places but I don’t think the podium is possible now. It was in the morning after that flat tyre but not now.”

Shaker Jweihan was the class act in the FIA MERC2 category with Mustafa Juma in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. He won all but one of the stages on his way to sixth overall and an overnight advantage of 2min 24.5sec over 12th-placed Sami Fleifel and Yazan Juma.

The Jordanian said: “The stages are rough. It’s crazy with a lot of stones and rocks. We were not taking any risks, honestly. There is not a lot to gain and plenty to lose. Tomorrow, we will ease the pace.”

A handful of seconds separated Rashid Al-Muhannadi, Nouef Al-Sowaidi and Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah at the midday regroup in the battle for FIA MERC4 honours. The three Peugeot 208 drivers became embroiled in a gripping contest for supremacy over the afternoon’s loop of stages.

Al-Attiyah and Laos Savvas managed to sneak in front of Al-Muhannadi and Gary McElhinney on the final stage to hold eighth overall and a 3.2-second lead. Al-Sowaidi and Aisvydas Paliukenas were just 2.1 seconds further adrift and Ahmad Shaheen Al-Muhannadi and Taha Al-Zadjali were in touching distance in fourth in MERC4 and 11th overall.

Behind Fleifel, the Lebanese duo of Charbel Chebly and Carlos Hanna were 13th overall and third in MERC2, just five seconds behind the Jordanians, until they suffered electrical issues before the start of stage six and retired. Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aamri and Mohamed Al-Mazrui moved up to third in the class.

Nineteen of the original 23 starters completed the leg.