Al-Attiyah tops Qualifying Stage

Nasser Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Matthieu Baumel topped the Qualifying Stage times this morning in their Ford Fiesta R5 and will pick their starting position first during the number selection process.
 

Al-Attiyah completed the Kalo Chorio Qualifying Stage (6.33 km) in 3:23.334. Second fastest were Nordgren and Suominen just 0.3 of a second behind them with Lukyanuk and Arnautov completing the top three of the Qualifying Stage four tenths off the pace of the Qatari legend.

Fastest of the local crews this morning was Simos Galatariotis, co-driven by Antonis Ioannou in their Skoda Fabia R5 with the first seven crews being separated by just one second. The second fastest Cypriot crew were Tsouloftas and Chrystostomou with the Citroen DS3 R5 with Panteli and Christodoulou just behind them.

The drivers will then gather at the Medieval Castle on the beachfront of Foinikoudes in Larnaca, whre the Cyprus Rally is hosted this year, for the number selection process at 13:30 at noon. After the number selection process, four drivers from the event will take a seat for the first press conference of the event.

Selected quotes:

Nasser Al-Attiyah: “It was a really nice stage. We had one big moment but we try to do our best in the stage. You know we like the rally.”

Alexey Lukyanuk: “It is gonna be drama this weekend. It is a long way to be in front of many other drivers. Nasser knows better how to handle the surface.”

Simos Galatariotis: “It was good. We seemed to have a minor issue because we were going a little bit wider in the last corner but we are OK.”

Bruno Maghalaes: “I am trying to find a good setup. This time is a big challenge for the setup, I think we made a good job. The car setup needs to be probably a bit higher, some parts have to be cut.”