WAKRA, Qatar: Qatar's Mubarak Al-Hajri and UAE co-driver Aref Mohammed Yousef were the surprise leaders of the 2011 Qatar International Rally after the opening six timed special stages south of Doha Friday. Al-Hajri was the last Qatari to win a round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship with the exception of the all-conquering Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah — Al-Hajri co-drive Khalifa Al-Mutaiwi to victory in Doha in 1995. He has never won an international rally as a driver before and the Subaru Impreza pilot duly won the day's round of the Qatar national series and will now take a 47.2 second lead into the remaining six timed stages Saturday. Al-Attiyah, partnered by Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini, is bidding to win the event for a ninth successive occasion and was fastest on the first three gravel stages in his Ford Fiesta S2000 and built up a lead of over one and a half minutes. But he suffered serious transmission problems on the fourth stage, the car lapsed into two-wheel drive and he was forced to complete the fifth and sixth timed tests with transmission woes. “No risks, no real problems, I was just taking it easy,” said Al-Attiyah after three stages, before losing considerable time. Three Qatari drivers fought a close tussle for the podium places. Al-Hajri, Al-Attiyah's brother Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah and Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari were evenly matched through three stages until Al-Hajri edged clear with the fastest time in SS5. Al-Kuwari, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, eventually finished the day third overall when Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah dropped two minutes on the sixth stage and slipped to fourth. The UAE's Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi and English co-driver Steve Lancaster were in fifth position in the ex-Attiyah Ford Fiesta S2000. Kuwait's Essam Al-Nejadi, Lebanon's Michel Saleh, Qatar's Abdullah Al-Rabban and Jaber Al-Marri and Sultan Al-Suwaidi rounded off the top 10.
