Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rajhi and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel romped into a comfortable 1m 20.9s lead after the opening seven special stages of the 2009 Syrian International Rally, round three of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, Friday. Qatar's Misfer Al-Marri and Ulster co-driver Chris Patterson had been fastest on the opening stage, but lost time through the second and third specials with damaged steering. Qatar's Mubarak Al-Hajri and Lebanon's Nick Georgiou held the remaining podium places at the overnight halt. “I have won two candidate rallies before, but I have never won a round of the championship,” said Al-Rajhi. “I made a good start this morning, found a fast pace and made a good lead. Now I have to keep it going for one more day.” Al-Marri led the 19-strong field into the first Jupiter stage and edged into a 0.8-second lead from Al-Rajhi. Syria's Haitham Al-Yousefi was third, Georgiou was fourth and Abdullah Al-Qassimi set the sixth fastest time. Ahmad Hamsho opted to run a new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X at the 11th hour and held 11th overall after the opening stage. The ignominy of first retirement fell to Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari: the Qatari suffered mechanical trouble early in the special. Al-Rajhi was quickest through the 24km of Hafar and opened up an outright lead of 44.7 seconds over Georgiou. Al-Marri lost nearly two minutes running first on the road with damaged steering, while Al-Qassimi climbed to third position with the third fastest time. Qatar's Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani lost seven minutes and slipped to the rear of the field and Kuwait's Essam Al
