Turkish female duo hopes to delight fans at Qatar rally Thursday, 26 January 2012 03:05

DOHA: The all-female Turkish rallying crew of Burcu Cetinkaya and
Cicek Guney will be taking part in this weekend’s Qatar International
Rally, round one of the 2012 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, for
the first time at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X,
prepared by Tok Sport.

The duo took part in the Dubai International Rally last December and
Cetinkaya, a five-time Turkish ladies champion, was one of the
revelations of the event, finishing a superb fifth overall. Guney also
has competitive blood running through her veins – the youngster is a
nine-time Turkish snowboarding champion.

Tok Sport, the Istanbul-based car preparation company, is also running
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari’s Prodrive-built Mini S2000 in the two-day rally
that gets underway with a ceremonial start at the headquarters of the
Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) at 09.30hrs on Friday
morning and finishes at the same venue the following afternoon from
15.35hrs.

All-female crews have been few and far between on rounds of the Middle
East’s premier rally series in recent years, but a second lady crew
will be hoping for success in Qatar on this occasion. Rounding off the
provisional 16-car start list is German driver Edith Weiss and her
Greek navigator Vicky Psarali.

Weiss has competed all over the Middle East since the 1990s and is
passionate about her rallying. She finished third in class in the 1992
Qatar International Rally and a fine 10th overall in 1997. Psarali and
Weiss competed together in last year’s Rally of Portugal and are
looking for a top 10 finish on this occasion.

On Wednesday, 16 of the original 20 crews completed their
reconnaissance of the six special stages that will be repeated twice
on Friday and Saturday. Even though he has won the last nine Qatar
rallies, defending champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah had not seen parts
of some of these special stages before.

“They are completely new, quite nice, but definitely not easy,” said
Nasser, who drives a Kronos-run Peugeot 207 WRC on this occasion.
“There is always a risk of punctures and the surfaces are quite hard
in places.”

A Peugeot 207 S2000 has only won one round of the MERC to date, with
Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi winning the Syrian International Rally
in 2009. Although the Riyadh-based driver also won the Sharqia event
in Saudi’s Eastern Province when it ran as a candidate event in 2010.

The Al-Wakra based Qatar event also marks the return to the series of
Lebanon’s Nick Georgiou in a Motortune-run Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
IX. Georgiou now resides in Beirut and has hired a car from tarmac
legend Roger Feghali for the Qatar Rally.

“The stages are difficult to judge and it is not easy to find where to
brake and where you could get a puncture,” said the Lebanese, who lost
a front-running position in 2009 when he sustained two flat front
tyres on the final stage of the event. “It’s a case of fingers crossed
for a good result here and then we will see for the rest of the year.
Punctures are always key to a good run here on the rocky terrain.”

Today crews will attend pre-rally eligibility checks and
administration and several front-runners will join QMMF president
Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah at the official pre-event press conference
at the QMMF on Salwa Road, at 15.00hrs.

| More...