Most liked posts in thread: Rally-Raid: Cross-Country Rally World Cup

Steve · Mar 19, 2012

A Rally with a Twist for the MINI ALL4 Racing. (MINIMotorsport.com)

19 March 2012

A sprint rather than a marathon rally, Baja Italia rather than Dakar â€“ last weekend, the X-raid team and the MINI ALL4 Racing faced a slightly different challenge. Khalifa Al Mutaiwei ended the curtain-raiser to the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies in seventh place.

Just 337 kilometres and 700 metres â€“ a mere sprint for real marathon runners. The Baja Italia provided the X-raid team with a completely different test to the 5,000 timed kilometres of the Rally Dakar, at which Sven Quandt's troop completed a triumphant one-two with the MINI All4 Racing in January. X-raid lined up with just one duo, in the form of Khalifa Al Mutaiwei and his co-driver Andi Schulz. This was Al Mutaiwei's first outing in the 315-bhp Dakar prototype, which he guided to a notable seventh place after being struck by bad luck on day two of the rally.

Expect the unexpected.

This motto not only applies at the Rally Dakar, but also the XXS version around Pordenone in northeast Italy. A deep ford crossing cost Al Mutaiwei and Schulz several minutes. The duo was forced to stop briefly before being able to continue. Bearing in mind the short distance, this interruption was enough to prevent them from pushing on for the podium finish they had set their sights on.

"That was a shame, but I was not overly disappointed," said Al Mutaiwei, who won the 2004 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies with X-raid. "The MINI ALL4 Racing was absolutely brilliant. The handling was super, the chassis was super, and it was unbelievably good on gravel â€“ almost like a WRC car. I constantly had to remind myself that it was not a desert rally, but a gravel event. All in all, I'm very happy with my learning curve throughout the rally. If we hadn't had that little problem with the ford, then we would definitely have finished in the top three."

The MINI ALL4 Racing, driven by Khalifa Al Mutaiwei/Andi Schulz, lined up under the old FIA regulations at the Baja Italia. This meant it featured an air restrictor with a smaller diameter, which efficiently constricts the air inhaled in accordance with the regulations. Team Principal Sven Quandt was also satisfied with the performance in this regard: "Khalifa had practically no chance of finishing any higher with the 25mm restrictor," said Quandt.

Victory at the Baja Italia went to Russians Vasilyev/Yevtyeekhov in a G-Force Proto.

No rest for the wicked: another weekend, another race.

Sven Quandt and his team will hardly have time to draw breath after the Baja Italia before they return to action. The troop from Trebur-Astheim, Germany, will compete at the Ha'il Rally in Saudi Arabia this weekend (20th to 23rd March). Top star Yazeed Al-Rajhi from Saudi Arabia will be striving to win the event for the third time â€“ this time in a MINI ALL4 Racing. The Ha'il Rally takes the drivers on a three-day trip through the An-Nafud Desert in central Saudi Arabia. The main rival for Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who is also competing in the 2012 World Rally Championship, looks like being the experienced Frenchman Thierry Magnaldi.

The X-raid team will then be in action for the third weekend in a row when it lines up at the second event in the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies from 30th March to 1st April. Khalifa Al Mutaiwei will line up at his home race â€“ the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The team will then enjoy a two-week break from competitive action before heading to the Sealine Cross-Country Rally in Qatar.
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Steve · Mar 19, 2012

Italian Baja: Ex World Champion Al Mutaiwei 7th after first Rally since 2004. (MarathonRally.com)

Dubaiâ€™s former FIA World Champion Khalifa Al Mutaiwei and German co-driver Andreas Schulz finished seventh overall in the 19th Italian Baja, round one of the 2012 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, which finished in north-east Italy on Sunday. For Al Mutaiwei it was a "comeback" after 8 years.

Problems on the second of Saturdayâ€™s two special stages prevented the Emirati driver from challenging for the top three on the final day in his Mini All4 Racing, on an event where the Russian driver Vladimir Vasilyev (G-Force Proto) snatched an unofficial 37-second victory from Dutchman Peter van Merksteijn (Toyota Hi-Lux).

"I have been very happy with the car, especially the handling and the suspension," said Al-Mutaiwei, the winner of the 2004 FIA World Cup at the wheel of a BMW X5CC. "Itâ€™s very much like a WRC car. I have also been happy with the progress and, without yesterdayâ€™s problems, I would have been in the top three. I must remember though that this is not a desert event. Itâ€™s a gravel one and it has been very rough and short, so you cannot recover the lost time, build a lead or bridge a gap when you have problems."

Driving a Mini prepared by Sven Quandtâ€™s X-raid team and run under the patronage of Dubaiâ€™s crown prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Al-Mutaiwei had slipped to 11th overall at the end of Saturdayâ€™s two runs through the Tagliamento stage.

Al-Mutaiwei had started the special from fourth overall but lost over six minutes to eventual stage winner Jean-Louis Schlesser with the 18th fastest time. The car stopped after a water splash and it took time for Al-Mutaiwei to get going again. "I wasnâ€™t too disappointed," added the Emirati. "Because my pace had been good and I would have been running inside the top three but for the problem."

He began the final day 7min 51sec behind the Frenchman, a twice winner of the Dakar Rally. Vladimir Vasilyev held second, Finlandâ€™s Toni Gardemeister was third and Czech front-runner Miroslav Zapletal held fourth.

An 80.86km special was repeated on two occasions on Sunday and Al-Mutaiwei set the fourth quickest time on the first run behind Vasilyev, van Merksteijn and Schlesser.

The Fazza Rally Team star then recorded the fifth fastest special on the fifth and final timed test, with Vasilyev again winning the stage and doling enough to confirm outright victory over van Merksteijn by the margin of just 37 seconds after nearly four hours of racing.

2012/03/18 | 18:54 CET | ARTICLE: MR/SY/HS/PERKINS
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