Qatar’s Adel Abdulla heads to north-west Poland this week to take place in Columna Medica Baja Poland, the ninth round of the 2018 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.
The Nissan Patrol Y62 driver currently trails Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Al-Shegawi by 23 points in the race to claim the T2 World Championship title for drivers of series production cross-country vehicles.
The Qatari and French navigator Jean-Michel Polato will be hoping to repeat the win they secured in Hungary earlier this month and close the gap still further on the Saudi before the final two rounds of the series in Morocco and Portugal in October.
Adel said: « Jean-Michel, myself and the team have prepared ourselves to try and take the victory in Poland. Last year we had a good result and we won this race. It is a little bit tricky and a bit sandy in some places in the forests. There are also some fast sections. It is a long race and not easy to manage. »
Adel Abdulla and Al-Shegawi face competition in Poland from local drivers Tomasz Baronowski and Piotr Sawicki and Romania’s Laurentiu Claudiu Barbu.
« Whoever has the good strategy for the two long stages of 220km will win the race. I can see the Polish T2 drivers being strong here as well. We need to win to close the gap even more before Morocco. »
Adel’s challenge for T2 honours this season is being supported by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), Ooredoo Qatar and Nissan Qatar.
Poland’s premier off-road rally is based in the northern town of Szczecin, although the special stages will be contested over tracks on the military training ground at Drawsko Pomorskie and in the nearby Dobra municipality.
Action gets underway with a super special stage of 7.08km on Friday, August 31st.
This will be followed by two runs through a selective section of 220.00km on Saturday (September 1st) and two passes through a pair of shorter stages of 10.50km (Krekowo) and (Lubieszyn) 18.50km on Sunday before the finish ceremony on Lasztownia island, near Szczecin.
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – T2 standings after round 8: 1. Ahmed Al-Shegawi (SAU), 183 points ; 2. Adel Abdulla (QAT), 160 pts ; 3. Yuliya Khegay-Migunova (RUS), 42 pts ; 4. Marat Abykayev (KAZ), 36 pts ; 5. Alexey Titov (RUS), 25 pts ; 6. Anders Svensson (SWE), 15 pts…
Neil Perkins,