Al-Attiyah first on the podium
CORDENONS. Middle Eastern dominance at the Italian Baja, the great international off-road race that ended yesterday in the province of Pordenone. The victory went to Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah, in a BMW X3 CC (total time: 3h29'07 ''), after an exciting duel with Russian Boris Gadasin (33 '' behind) and his Nissan Navara, who had to bow to the amazing comeback of the opponent. All foreigners are the first twelve finishers of a grueling race despite the shortening of the route imposed by the cancellation of the selective sector on Monte Jouf. Thirteenth and first of the Italians, the Milanese Paolo Abini (Mitsubishi Pajero Did), sailed by Simona Mantovani, 40'17 '' behind.
DEPARTURE. Yesterday morning, at the restart from the Dream Village, Gadasin could count on an advantage of 3'45 '', considerable but not sufficient to face the last two passes on the selective sector Tagliamento, 63.31 km long, in ease. A much closer challenge for third place between the Latvian Jan Naglis, the Dutch Van Deijne Tonnie (both on Mitsubishi) and the Hungarian Laszlo Palik (Nissan), concentrated in 15 ''. The Paduan Franco Grigoletto (Fornasari), sixth overall and first of the Italians, was thinking of being able to climb a few more positions.
FIRST LAP. Al-Attiyah repeats Saturday's script and is again the fastest in 37'07 '' (best time overall), taking Gadasin another 1'45 '' of margin. Naglis goes into crisis and gives up the position to Tonnie's advantage, who now has Palik (fourth) at 36 ''. Grigoletto disappears from the scene (front suspension knocked out) and in seventh place, first of the Italians, are Daniele Canonico and Erika Pajer with the Nissan Pathfinder from Tecnosport. 38 crews of the 62 who started on Friday for the International Fia Cup For Cross Country Bajas remained in the race.
SECOND ROUND. Everything is decided at a spasm in the last selective sector. The Gadasin leader has only 2 'of advantage over his rival, just the time that separates them at the start by regulation. To win, it is clear that Al-Attiyah must catch up and overtake the opponent. Two thirds of the way down the road, the BMW is now close to the Nissan. An open hunt begins in the rally section that winds between Barbeano and Provesano. The two cars are in the wake and Gadasin makes a fatal mistake in braking, ends up long and is forced to a wide lap to get back on the right track. Al-Attiyah turns left correctly and triumphs over the finish line. For him the second consecutive success after his seasonal debut in Saudi Arabia, always with the Russian second. The fight for the podium finally rewards the 'tulip' Tonnie, 17'07 '' behind.
ITALIANS. Only the Fornasari di Montico (Saturday) and Grigoletto (Sunday) have really tried to counteract the passage of foreigners. But all four vehicles lined up by the Vicenza manufacturer had to withdraw due to mechanical breakdowns. Not even Canonico saw the finish line (transmission) and so, using a shrewd strategy and without excessive risks, the best was Abini of the R-Team, ahead of the reigning champion Lorenzo Codecà (Suzuki).
