Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Muscat: Young Omani driver Abdullah Al Zubair excelled in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, a points scoring rally raid race for FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup and the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, organised in the UAE capital recently.
Abdullah Al Zubair and his co-driver Faisal Al Raisi driving a Toyota Hilux T1, clinched the third place in GCC team drivers category and finished in overall 22nd place despite facing several technical problems with the car during the five-day event
The race has started in front of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi with a a super special stage.
Abdullah Al Zubair also took part in the same event las year but his challenge ended early due to an accident.
The young Omani, however, made up for last year’s disappointment with an excellent show this time around.
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Meanwhile, Abdullah’s father Al Zubair Mohammed also took part in the event along with his co-driver Mohammed Issa Al Zadjali on Jeep Wrangler.
But Al Zubair’s standard Jeep and the vehicle specifications did not gave him the opportunity to compete well with the highly experienced drivers and their modified vehicles, though he was able to finish fourth in the GCC teams category and overall 28th in a 40-strong field.
Abdullah Al Zubair started the race from the seventh place. His lack of familiarity with the new Toyota Hilux T1 car, which arrived late from Europe, and the lack of experience of his co-driver Faisal Al Raisi, affected the performance but full credit to the duo as they were able to finish the race in overall 24th place.
Abdullah Al Zubair said: “I am very happy with the result obtained in spite of all the problems encountered during in the Challenge. To be frank it was not that simple and easy to take the third place in the GCC drivers category.”
“I would like to thank all the supporters, mechanics and Omantel for their backing. I will try my best and achieve good results in future events as well,” he added.
