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 Saturday. Al-Attiyah took 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 35th MERC win by the flattering margin of 11m 26s. The UAE's Rashid Al-Ketbi and Khaled Kendi held third position for long periods in their Skoda Fabia S2000, but a serious gearbox oil leak sidelined the Czech-built car on SS12 and the Qatar Rally Team's Misfer Al-Marri and Nicola Arena were able to benefit and ultimately claim second position in a Subaru Impreza. They had also lost over five minutes with a puncture on the last stage of day one. A jubilant Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani benefited from all the carnage around him to seal a stunning third overall and record his best finish on an MERC rally since the early 1990s. The remainder of the top six had an unlikely look to it: Team Abu Dhabi's Ahmed Al-Mansoori and Majed Al-Shamsi achieved career-best finishes of fourth and fifth overall, but neither drivers is registered for Middle East championship points. Britain's David Scialom avoided most of the trouble to claim sixth position in his Subaru Impreza. Jordanian Amjad Farrah had his own fair share of mechanical problems and punctures. He finished seventh and was the fourth championship-registered finisher. Qatar's Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and French co-driver Denis Giraudet claimed eighth, while Kuwait's Mufeed Mubarak and Essam Al
