Promising start for Al Qassimi

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi made a strong start in his bid to win the Sharqia Rally in Saudi Arabia as he was second-quickest in the opening super special stage yesterday. The Abu Dhabi driver clocked a time of 2mins 11.6secs in his Ford Fiesta and was just 0.9 seconds off the pace of the fastest stage time set by home favourite Yazeed al Rajhi. The event is the fourth round of the Middle East Rally Championship and Al Qassimi, who also competes in the World Rally Championship for the BP Abu Dhabi Ford team, will be eager to move up from third in the standings on the back of a good result in the event here. He won the second round of the championship in Kuwait, but failed to finish in the other two events in Qatar or Jordan. Action today sees the drivers tackle six desert stages