Qatar’s Khaled Al-Suwaidi and his Portuguese co-driver Hugo Magalhães held off a late charge from Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah to claim a stunning victory in the 26th Kuwait International Rally on Saturday. The Qatari inherited the lead on the first stage of the day, eased his pace over the last two stages in his SRT Škoda and was rewarded with a second MERC rally victory. In fact, the success was a second MERC triumph for both driver and co-driver, with Al-Suwaidi triumphing in Kuwait back in 2012 and Magalhães partnering Rashid Al-Naimi to victory in Qatar in 2017. A delighted Al-Suwaidi said: “I thank god for the win. My target even before I came to Kuwait was to win the rally. This is my third podium here. I finished third in 2010 and I won in 2012. I am so pleased to achieve this, especially after four years’ absence from the scene.” Punctures had wrecked Al-Attiyah’s and French co-driver Mathieu Baumel’s chances of taking the win on day one and there just too few kilometers in Saturday’s itinerary for the Qatari to mount a realistic fight back in his Autotek Volkswagen Polo GTI. Predictably, he won each of the final day’s four desert stages to confirm second overall and extend his lead in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship after three rounds. Overnight leaders, Meshari Al-Thefiri and Qatari co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari, suffered a cruel engine failure on their Škoda Fabia R2 evo three kilometers into the first stage of the morning. Al-Thefiri had stood to become the first Kuwaiti ever to win a round of the MERC and the first to win the Kuwait Rally since his father Ahmed secured the win back in 1981. He said: “I am not upset. I’m very happy because I’ve retired with my head very high. This is rallying and my time leading the rally will give me a huge push and motivation for the future.” Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Irish co-driver James Fulton looked set for a podium finish until the Qatari rolled his Škoda Fabia out of contention midway through the penultimate stage. The Kuwaiti pairing of Mohammed Al-Thefiri and Mubarak Al-Dhafiri were the class of the MERC2 field for the entire rally in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. They had the added bonus of rounding off the podium places in third. Kuwait’s Jassim Al-Muqahwi and Thamer Al-Mutairi finished fourth and second in the MERC2 section. Qatar’s Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Italy’s Giovanni Bernacchini lost their way in the ninth stage and reached the finish in fifth place in a Motortune-run Ford Fiesta. The Jordanian duo of Shadi Shaban and Issa Abu Jamous rounded off the depleted list of finishers in sixth and seventh overall. Jordan’s Ihab Al-Shorafa and Khaled Juma and the Omani duo of Zakariya Al-Aamri and Abdullah Al-Rawahi didn’t restart on Saturday. Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Dhafeeri did restart but failed to tackle the seventh stage. — SG