Qatari driver Adel Abdulla in action during the Baja Aragon in Spain.
Teruel, Spain: Defending FIA World Cup T2 champion Adel Abdulla returned to the event where he recorded a famous victory last season to finish in an excellent second place in the T2 category at Spain’s Baja Aragón, round seven of this year’s FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.
The Qatari reached the finish in the baking heat of the town of Teruel in a time of 8hrs 17min 54sec. That was just 1min 50sec behind the T2 section winner Juan Font of Spain, but it gave the QX Rally Team Nissan driver a useful haul of points.
“We gave it a real push on the last stage today, claimed the stage win and almost managed to win T2,” said Adel Abdulla. “I dedicate this result to His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and thank my sponsors, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation, Nissan Qatar’s Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Co, Ooredoo and the Government of Qatar for their support.”
Adel started strongly on the 9.6km super special stage that was held near Teruel on Friday evening. The Qatari set the fourth quickest time behind Alessandro Trivini, Josep Solé and Andrea Schiumarini, but moved up to third when Trivini was awarded a 10-minute time penalty.
Yesterday’s 184.05km final stage of the rally took place between Barrachina and Caude. Adel Abdulla pushed hard and set the fastest time in the T2 category and almost managed to catch Font to claim the T2 win, but had to settle for an impressive second position in his Nissan Patrol Y62.
