Abu Dhabi Racing boss and driver Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi drives during Wednesday's fourth stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Racing
Abu Dhabi Racing boss and driver Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi drives during Wednesday's fourth stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Racing

Abu Dhabi Desert Classic: Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi struggles as Al Attiyah keeps lead



It must have felt a bit like déjà vu for Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi on Wednesday during the fourth stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, as he struggled with, first, a faulty dampener and then a broken drive shaft.

Abu Dhabi is his home turf, but he has not had much luck in his previous two Desert Challenge appearances.

In 2015, his campaign was over inside two days because of broken drive shaft and last year, he suffered a broken gearbox and had to be content with finishing seventh.

Memories of those two jinxed campaigns must have clouded the Abu Dhabi Racing chairman’s mind as he waited for his PH Sport crew to replace the drive shaft on the Peugeot 3008 DKR.

That, however, was not the end of his trials for the day.

Back behind the wheel of his repaired vehicle, Sheikh Khalid suffered another setback, when his car nosedived into a gully.

However, despite losing more than an hour on the 250.25km ADNOC stage and finishing ninth, Sheikh Khalid still managed to hold on to his second spot in the overall classification and is looking forward to a second successive podium finish in this year’s FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies when the event concludes on Thursday.

“Today was a very tough day,” said Sheikh Khalid, who finished second behind Nasser Al Attiyah in the Dubai International Baja, which was the second round of the World Cup.

“When we started out it was very windy and some 60km into the stage, which was very bumpy, we noticed that the dampener was not performing well. We balanced our pace, but when I noticed there were fewer bumps I went faster.

“Unfortunately, about 120km into the stage we broke our drive shaft. We had a replacement, but having overcome this issue, about 70km before the finish, we suddenly nosedived into a gully. Getting the car out by digging out the sand meant we lost another 35 minutes.

“Tough day with multiple issues to deal with, but we are still P2 overall.”

Al Attiyah, the defending Abu Dhabi and World Cup champion, continued his domination of the rally, finishing 22 minutes and 41 minutes ahead of Emirati Khalid Al Jafla for his fourth win from four stages.

The Qatari, who is a two-time Dakar champion. now boasts an overall lead of 1 hour, 46 minutes, 03.1 seconds over Sheikh Khalid going into the final stage, while Czech driver Martin Prokop is a further 34 minutes behind Sheikh Khalid in third.

The competition in the bikes category, however, is a lot closer with Paulo Gonçalves leading Matthias Walkner by 33.8 seconds, while Pierre Alexander Renet (70.5 seconds behind the leader) and Dakar champion Sam Sunderland (75.7 seconds behind the leader) follow close behind.

“I don’t really like to race like this - the strategy and trying to see what the others guys are doing,” said Sunderland. “I’d rather it just be the fastest rider won.

“I’ve lost this race so many years by being the fastest dude. This year I have been trying to get the strategy better.

“We will see how we go. I will have to ride as hard as I can to catch the time back. It may look easy on the paper, but it’s far from it. You have to fight a lot and work hard.”

arizvi@thenational.ae

Stage four results

Cars

1 Nasser Al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA),Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 3:36:50

2 Khalid Al Jafla (ARE)/Ahmed Malik (ARE), Chevrolet Silverado, 3:59:31

3 Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tomanek (CZE), Ford F-150 Evo 4:02:23

4 Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SLO), Hummer H3 Evo III, 4:03:06

5 Mohammed Abu Issa (QAT)/Xavier Panseri (FRA), Mini All4 Racing, 4:04:01

Bikes

1 Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda CRF 450 Rally, 3:38:15

2 Pierre Alexander Renet (FRA), Husqvarna 450 Rally, 3:40:49

3 Paulo Gonçalves (PRT), Honda 450 CRF Rally, 3:43:49

4 Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM 450 Rally Factory, 3:46:56

5 Mohammed Jaffar (ARE), KTM 450 Raly Replica, 3:48:29

Quads

1 Alexis Hernande Ponce (PER), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 4:07:29

2 Rodolfo Schippers (GUA), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 4:12:04

3 Kees Koolen (NED), Barren Racer One 690, 4:14:39

4 Fahad Al-Musallam (KUW), Yamaha Raptor 700R, 4:17:33

5 Camelia Liparoti (ITA), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 4:28:04

Overall classification

Cars

1 Nasser Al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA), Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 14:43:58.7

2 Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE)/Khaled Al-Kendi (ARE), Peugeot 3008 DKR, 16:30:01.8

3 Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tomanek (CZE), Ford F-150 Evo, 17:04:07.1

4 Mohammed Abu Issa (QAT)/Xavier Panseri (FRA), Mini All4 Racing, 17:56:07.7

5 Khalid Al-Feraihi (SAU)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE), Nissan Patrol, 20:12:05.3

Bikes

1 Paulo Gonçalves (PRT), Honda 450 CRF Rally, 15:32:56.8

2 Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM 450 Rally Factory, 15:33:30.6

3 Pierre Alexander Renet (FRA), Husqvarna 450 Rally, 15:34:07.3

4 Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM 450 Rally Factory, 15:34:12.5

5 Pablo Quintanilla (CHI), Husqvarna 450 Rally, 15:34:27.2

Quads

1 Rodolfo Schippers (GUA), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 19:09:54.9

2 Fahad Al-Musallam (KUW), Yamaha Raptor 700R, 19:11:38.2

3 Kamil Wisniewski (POL), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 19:27:08.4

4 Camelia Liparoti (ITA), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 20:09:34.4

5 Maxim Antimirov (KAZ), Honda TRX 700, 20:22:50.4

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Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
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Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

UAE - India ties

The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China

Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion

The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India

Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015

His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016

Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017

Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25

Kill%20Bill%20Volume%201
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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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The%20specs
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The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases -  but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier

Event info: The tournament in Kuwait is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.

Teams: UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar

Friday fixtures: 9.30am (UAE time) - Kuwait v Maldives, Qatar v UAE; 3pm - Saudi Arabia v Bahrain

England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29

From exhibitions to the battlefield

In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.

It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.

It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.

It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Quick%20facts
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