DOHA (Qatar): Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini overcame a potentially costly puncture on the ninth special stage to clinch an eighth successive victory in the Qtel Qatar International Rally and take the early season initiative in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.

Al-Attiyah pedalled the new Ford Fiesta S2000 to an impressive debut victory over 14 demanding gravel stages in the Qatar desert, but the crew were pressed all the way by the UAE's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and Ulster co-driver Michael Orr in a similar car.

Both teams overcame niggling pre-rally teething problems to usher in a new era of S2000 rallying in the Middle East, but a series of punctures cost Al-Qassimi his deserved finish on the penultimate stage and duly confirmed Al-Attiyah's 35^th MERC win by the flattering margin of 11m 26s.

"It has been three weeks of highs and lows with the second place on the Dakar and now this fantastic victory in Qatar," said Al-Attiyah. "I knew it would not be easy today. It was impossible to push hard. It was a matter of making no mistakes and hoping you did not lose too much time with tyre problems. I have a busy programme this year and will not be able to take part in all the Middle East rallies, so it was important that I got the 10 points here."

Day two - as it happened

Twenty-five of the original 32 starters were granted permission to start day two, including seven cars running under SupeRally. Of those, Michel Saleh and Amjad Farrah were reinstated in the top 12 after their eighth stage problems and Qatar's Jaber Al-Marri moved back into his rightful sixth position once a timing error has been corrected on Friday evening.

Al-Attiyah set out into the 25km Al-Wakrah stage with a 32.6s advantage over Al-Qassimi. Al-Ketbi was a distant third and an eighth stage puncture had pushed Al-Marri behind Abdullah Al-Qassimi into fifth position. But the battle for the overall lead was thrown upside down through the treacherous Al-Wakrah stage when Al-Attiyah stopped for over three minutes with a puncture and Al-Qassimi coasted though to take the stage win and an outright lead of 2m 49.1s.

Al-Attiyah could not afford to hold back through the 10^th stage and ran the risk of punctures trying to reduce Al-Qassimi's overall lead. But Al-Qassimi also sustained a flat tyre on SS10 and the flailing tyre and damage broke the caliper and the disc. He finished the stage with three brakes and had to survive the 11^th stage with limited stopping power before returning to service.

Somehow the Emirati managed to keep going and recorded the fastest time in the Al-Negian stage when Al-Attiyah dropped 15.6s. Al-Qassimi headed into service at Al-Wakra with a 59.8s overall lead.

The final runs through the three deteriorating stages promised to be fascinating and lady luck was shining on Al-Attiyah after last week's Dakar Rally disappointment. Al-Qassimi's mechanics had blocked off his offending brake line in service, but he was forced to stop and change a puncture that took just over four minutes and the Qatari regained a 3m 05s lead heading into the final two stages.

But the broken stage surface eventually claimed Al-Qassimi and ended the fight for the overall win. The Emirati was carrying two spare tyres after the service, but he punctured again on two occasions in unlucky SS13 and was unable to continue without a third spare wheel. His demise handed second position to Al-Marri and ensured that Al-Attiyah began the final stage with an overall lead of 10m 21s. "There was no way that stage should have been run again," reflected a disappointed Al-Qassimi.

 There were no late dramas for Al-Attiyah and he held on to take a convincing victory, with Al-Marri and Al-Thani completing unlikely Qatar 1-2-3 finishes on the sun-drenched Corniche in Doha. Team Abu Dhabi's Bader Al-Jabri was not so fortunate and a drive shaft failed on his Fiesta through the 13^th stage and he hobbled out of the rally within sight of the finish.